Helping Rory
by KRiSTiNEDAHLiNG
Summary: Completed. Christopher helps Rory figure out life after she quits school. RL, LC, PJ, LD, FOC, & CS.
1. In Her Nightgown

This takes place during the present. Rory turns to Christopher for support because she has no one else. I love Christopher so he is going to be a main character in this story. If you hate Christopher and love Luke you may not want to read. I'm not a big Luke fan.

Christopher Hayden sat quietly on his couch as his daughter had an emotional breakdown. She had shown up here two hours ago wearing nothing but her nightgown. As soon as he saw her he knew something was wrong. Rory wasn't the kind of girl to just show up somewhere in the middle of the night. "So you dropped out of Yale, because Logan's father Mitchum Huntzberger said that you weren't cut out to be a journalist?" Christopher asked delicately. He didn't want her to feel like he was criticizing her choice.

"Yes, no, maybe, well see the thing is I don't really know. It's like I just want to breathe for a minute. I don't want to have to worry about mid-terms and lectures. It's more like everyone else got this really fun and exciting childhood where they were able to just take breaks and I wasn't. I never got a break. I just want a break." Rory explained the best she could. She felt sort of stupid sitting here in her father's living room wearing nothing but her nightgown. She didn't know why she woke up and suddenly needed to talk to him. She just did. She knew that he would understand. No one understood her mother better than he did. Not even Luke could figure out why Lorelai Gilmore did the things she did. So now she was sitting here with her father, who was looking extremely disheveled wearing an old Red Sox t-shirt and a pair of boxers. Still he was here listening to her and making her feel like maybe she wasn't as much of a screw up as she felt right now.

Christopher nodded sagely as he listened. "I know what you mean. It's like you feel trapped. You feel like you never have any time to just live life. It's like half your day is in a classroom listening to some prestigious professor and the other half is spent in your dorm room or the library trying to figure what the hell he was talking about in the first place. It's like you want a moment of simplicity."

"You get it. You actually get it. I mean grandmother and grandfather pretend to get it but they don't. They just don't want to be the bad guys. You though, you get it. You understand why I feel like my whole life is falling apart." Rory for the first time this evening was smiling. She was actually beaming. She felt like this huge weight had just been lifted off of her shoulders.

"I dropped out of Princeton because I had that exact same feeling." Christopher started and then took a drink of his coffee. "I dropped out and decided that I would live. I would be more than just Christopher Hayden. I thought maybe I would shed my princely image." He laughed a little at the mere thought that he could ever be considered a prince. "I realized though after six months of doing absolutely nothing and not using my brain at all that I needed to go back. I had to do something with my life again. I mean don't get me wrong it was amazing to be able to just live in the moment and not have to worry about Roosevelt's feelings about reform or Johnson's inability to make effective military decisions during Vietnam."

"Would you do it again if you had to make the decision with the knowledge you have now?" Rory was intrigued by the thought that maybe she was more like her father than anyone ever said. Of course most people didn't know Christopher. Still she was surprised to find that she was completely like Lorelai. No there was actually a little bit of Chris mixed in there too.

Chris smiled and questioned whether to answer her honestly or not. He decided that it wouldn't help anybody if he lied. "No I wouldn't. I missed a lot. I came back and I was behind. I graduated later than my peers. I would have taken a week off, but now six months." Christopher hesitated for a moment and then decided to ask his question. "Why are you coming to me instead of your mother?"

Rory looked down at her feet and then back up at the ceiling. She searched for words that wouldn't sound hateful. "She's turned her back on me. She didn't like that I decided to drop out of Yale. She didn't like that I was dating Logan Huntzberger. She hasn't respected anything I've done these last few months. So why go to her?"

Christopher was shocked at Rory's statement. Her relationship with Lorelai had always been so solid. "Why doesn't she like Logan, from what you've said he makes you very happy?"

"She blames him for everything. She thinks it was his idea to steal the yacht. She thinks he's a bad person. She says that he is just some spoiled kid who will never grow up. She doesn't think he's good enough to be with me. She doesn't understand how I could love him. She doesn't understand how special he makes me feel. For the first time Dad, I'm not Mary. No I'm Rory and I have these new amazing friends who don't take life too seriously. She wants me to live her life and I can't."

"He sounds amazing Rory. I'm happy you have someone good like that in your life. So your mom and Luke are still together?"

Rory nodded. "Yeah they're solid last I checked." Rory started to say something else when she realized that her cell phone was ringing. She looked at the caller ID and smiled. "Hey, what are you doing up?"

Christopher smiled at the fact that she was beaming again. He couldn't believe that Rory and Lorelai were having so many problems. If anyone should be there for Rory right now it should be Lorelai. They had always been close. She shouldn't be mad at Rory for not following the plan. He knew that the only way for things to really be good with Rory again was for him to fix this. He owed it to Rory to get Lorelai to be there for her again. He knew that even though Rory was pretending she was okay without her mom in her life she really was struggling to stay afloat.

"Yeah that's where my dad lives, but how did you know that?" Rory got up from the couch and looked out the window. Sitting on the roof of her car was Logan smiling broadly. He'd been driving back from visiting with Honor, who apparently lived nine houses down, when he spotted her car outside. "Come inside so you can meet my dad."

Christopher Hayden looked down at what he was wearing and wondered if this would consider as a horrifyingly embarrassing moment. He was standing in his living room in an old t-shirt, and a pair of boxers waiting to meet his daughter's boyfriend for the first time.

Logan nervously walked up to the front door of Rory's father's house. He knew that he should have just kept going. This was his first time actually meeting a girl's father. Technically he'd met Luke, but did he really count as Rory's father. He prayed that her real father was nothing like Luke. Luke scared Logan. He had this whole grizzly Adams thing that just made Logan cringe. He reached for the doorknob just as Rory had thrown the door open and gave him a hug. He was surprised to see that she was wearing her nightgown. She must have been talking to him about her mother. She was having a really hard time with the thought that Lorelai wasn't going to be there for her anymore. Her father was unusually young looking. He was wearing his own pajamas and had apparently been forced out of bed by Rory's impromptu visit. "You must be Rory's father. I'm sorry I don't know your name."

Christopher smiled. "Hi it's Christopher Hayden and it's really nice to meet you. Rory was just telling me how wonderful things are going with you right now."

Logan looked at Rory and pulled her close to him, but no so close that it would make a father want to ring his neck. "Yeah well what can I say other than that I'm lucky to have her."

Rory smiled. "Well dad thank you so much for that. I mean you really helped me. I'm going to go ahead and leave my car here. I'll come over tomorrow and get it. Do you want to meet tomorrow for lunch at the club and then maybe play a quick round of golf?"

"That sounds great call me in the morning and we'll set up a definite time. Logan if you'd like to join us that would be great. Tell Richard and Emily I said hello and tell them thanks for taking care of you for me. Don't hesitate to call me Rory." He watched as Rory walked off to Logan's car. They were smiling and whispering something to each other. He could tell that she was happy. As he walked back into the house he made a note to wake up early so that he could make it down to Stars Hollow before Rory would even get a chance to call about lunch. He had to talk to Lorelai if it was the last thing he did. She had to understand that she was doing Rory more harm than good. He sighed as he walked up to his room. Who would have thought that he could actually help Rory that much?

Okay so in the next chapter Christopher and Lorelai talk about Rory. I hope you like this one. I thought maybe I would try something a little less AU for once. Thanks for reading. Please tell me what you think. Pretty please because I have to know if this sucks or not.


	2. Convincing Lorelai

Christopher drove through the town at a crawling speed so that he could avoid speaking to her for just a little while longer. He knew that he had to do this for Rory. He knew that he had to speak to Lorelai if it was the last thing he ever did for his first daughter. Still he couldn't lie and say that the mere thought of confronting her after the vow renewal didn't make him nervous. He'd been so drunk that some things were still foggy. He could see her house from where he was and sighed. He looked at his clock and questioned whether or not she would be awake. When he pulled his SUV into her driveway he was surprised to see that her jeep wasn't the only vehicle parked in the drive. He knew that this probably meant that Luke was there. For a fleeting second he thought about turning around and going home. He shook his head. No he had to do this for Rory. He had to tell himself that so that he couldn't chicken out. He got out of his SUV and slowly walked up to her front door. When he finally reached the door he rang the bell and waited for her to come down and answer it.

Lorelai was drinking a cup of coffee and reading her horoscope at the kitchen table when the bell rang. She looked at her cup and sighed. It was probably someone with some asinine question about her and Luke's engagement. She thought about just letting them think she was gone, but knew that if it was someone like Miss Patty then they wouldn't give up. She got up from the table and walked to the door not even bothering to check and see who it was. When she opened it she silently cursed herself for not pretending to be gone. "What are you doing here Christopher?"

There was something about her that said that she was trying to be okay even though she really wasn't. He recognized that look from when she told him that she was pregnant. She wanted everybody to think that she was just fine, but she wasn't. Inside she was fighting a battle with her heart. At this point he couldn't tell who was winning. "I need to talk to you."

"If it's about what happened at the vow renewal then don't waste your breath. It's over and done with. I'd rather just not discuss it." She replied in a defeated voice. She knew that he was reading her. Chris was one of the few people who could do that. He'd always been able to do that.

"It's about Rory. She came to talk to me last night. I think we should discuss the situation." Christopher knew that things were going to get out of hand. He could already tell. He knew that tempers were going to flare.

Lorelai shook her head. "I'm not going down that road either."

"So it's true. You're really just going to give up on our daughter because she made a decision you didn't like?" Christopher asked in disbelief.

Lorelai could feel her emotions begin to stir. "First off when did she become our daughter Christopher? Secondly she doesn't need me to help her along. She's an adult now Christopher. It's time for her to be one."

"I realize I wasn't there Lorelai, but before we go into this whole I was an absent father I just want you to remember that I tried to be there. I came home from Princeton one weekend to see you and my daughter and your parents informed me that you had taken off. You didn't leave me a note or even try to tell me about your plans. You left me and you took our daughter with you. I found you. Remember that? I came to that inn you were working at and saw that our daughter was being raised in this town. I knew that there was no point in fighting with you about your living situation. So I left, but before I did so I gave you my number so you could call me in case you needed anything. You didn't let me be there." Christopher had always wanted to tell her this. He always wanted to make this point when people accused him of being a bad father. People always gave Lorelai all the credit for Rory's upbringing but a lot of that had to do with the fact that she wouldn't let him be there.

"Just go back to Hartford Christopher. Things between us are bad enough as it is. Luke will be back soon. I'd rather not have to deal with him seeing you. Rory's making big girl decisions so it's time to treat her like a big girl. She doesn't need my input anymore. So I'm going to let her live her own life." Lorelai turned to back into her house. She didn't want to hear his truthful words. She had pushed him away. Part of her did it because she wanted him to succeed, part of her did it because she wanted Rory all to herself, and part of her did it because she knew if she married him things would come too easy and Lorelai hated easy.

Christopher gently grabbed her arm and turned her around so that she had to face him. "No, I'm not giving up this easily. That's always been my problem I've never been willing to really fight for something. You pushing Rory away because she's taking this time off isn't going to help anybody. It's just going make her more determined to make this work. You need to stop telling her that this is the wrong choice."

Lorelai was no longer weak. Now she was strong, because inside she was dying to do something rash like slap him. How dare he judge the way she was handling things. "When did you become an expert on the many decisions of Rory?"

"Even though you won't admit it Lor you know that Rory and I are alike. You know it. Come on you've never been a bookworm. You always hated school. You hated the thought of going to college." Christopher pointed out.

Lorelai scoffed. "Oh yeah you two sound like two peas in a pod. The only problem is you don't know each other. I don't even know her anymore. My Rory would never have dated a jerk like Logan. She would never steal a yacht. My Rory was sweet, innocent, naïve, and studious. I don't know this girl."

"I can't believe you have the nerve to judge Rory's taste in guys. You of all people should know that first impressions aren't really quite as important as the second or third. I think you hate them together because they remind you too much of us. I mean God Lorelai don't you remember we used to do those things when we were young. We were jetsetters. We were privileged. We were snots. Look at us. We turned out okay. Rory loves him and you hate him. Don't you see that you're acting like your mother?" Christopher couldn't believe that he had actually accused Lorelai of being like Emily Gilmore. He knew that she would not take that statement lightly. Still someone had to tell her.

Lorelai turned a shade of crimson red. "I will never be like Emily Gilmore. Never, do you understand that? My decision to stay out of Rory's life is not one that Emily would make. So if you wouldn't mind I have a busy day today. Please leave."

Christopher turned around and started to walk away. He couldn't believe she was being this pigheaded. He turned around for a brief moment and saw that she was standing there watching him. He could tell that she was shaking slightly. He couldn't tell if it was more from the cold or from the anger that had filled her soul. "Lorelai don't do this! Don't shut her out! She needs you whether you believe so or not. She's never going to be that Rory again if you don't talk to her. Logan and Rory are good together. They're happy. Lorelai I know you hear me even if you want to pretend that you think I'm an arrogant ass." Christopher pulled his keys out of his pocket and got into his SUV. He looked at her one more time before driving away.

Lorelai went inside her small house and took a deep breath. She wasn't ready to accept what he was saying. In a month or two she'd be ready, but for now she couldn't do it. She couldn't accept the fact that Rory was growing up and making her own decisions. At least this would be a chance for Rory to know Chris. She took a sip of her now cold coffee and thought about her upcoming wedding. This was supposed to be one of the happiest times of her life and all she could feel was sadness.

Okay that was the update. The next chapter will be a little less sad. I hope that you liked it. I was really happy to see that some people have reviewed. I thought I was the only Balcony Buddy. Thanks for reading.


	3. Promise Me

Logan stared at Rory watching her sleep peacefully. He loved it when something in her dreams made her smile. He often hoped that it was something he'd done in her dream that made her that happy. It was moments like these that he thought about his relationship with her. He would watch her and wonder if he wasn't doing more harm than good. He knew that part of the reason she was estranged from her mother was him. When it was quiet like it was right now he would couldn't help but think about a conversation that they had had a few weeks ago.

_Logan walked into the pool house to find that it appeared to be empty. If it hadn't been for the fact that he knew Rory was here he probably would have left. Instead of leaving he quietly walked around the room and listened for her. It only took him a few minutes to realize that she was sitting on her bathroom floor crying. He gently walked into the room and lifted her off of the floor. "Ace what's the matter?" His voice was soft and filled with worry._

"_I just can't believe she's turned her back on me. I just can't believe it. I've tried to make her understand that this isn't about her it's about me, but she doesn't get it." Rory sobbed into his shoulder._

_Logan didn't really know what to do so he just held her close and softly ran his fingers through her hair. "I'm so sorry Rory. I'm so sorry for all of this."_

_Rory gently pulled back from him and looked at him. She couldn't believe that he was apologizing. "You have nothing to be sorry for."_

_Logan shook his head. "Yes I do Rory. I shouldn't have tried to pull that stunt at your grandparent's house. I shouldn't have let you go work for my father. I shouldn't have helped you steal that yacht. I should have been more responsible. I should have impressed your mother instead of turned her off. I should have been more like that guy you were dating before me. What was it Dean I think."  
_

_Rory scoffed. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. He was taking all of the blame for everything that had happened recently when in fact he had been the only thing saving her. "Dean was a married man Logan. We dated in high school and he was my first love. We broke up and I started dating this other guy Jess, who too was completely wrong for me. Dean married this girl named Lindsay right after high school. I guess it was really doomed from the start with or without my help. One night I slept with him. It was my first time. To this day I can't explain why I did it. I left right after it happened and went on this journey of sorts with my grandmother. When I came back he told me they were getting divorced. We started dating. Still we were older and things were never the same. My mother and I were never the same after everything that happened with Dean. She became consumed in her relationship with Luke and when she had time to see what I was doing she missed the fact that there was sill something emotionally wrong with me. Everything else doesn't bother her as much as the fact that I slept with a married man does." Rory avoided his gaze. She didn't want to see the look of disgust that she was sure would be present in his eyes._

_Logan gently grabbed her chin so that she was looking at him. "I can't promise you things are going to be better with your mom. I just can't do that Ace. Still I can promise things are going to be better with us. I'll be a more suitable boyfriend. We'll do couple things. We'll have couple friends. It'll be great. Very traditional I think would be the right description."_

"_Why would you want to be traditional?" Rory whispered seductively. She felt better after admitting to him that she wasn't always so perfect. That she wasn't really an angel like everyone assumed of her. _

_Logan smiled. "Mothers love traditional. You love your mother. I love you. It's a whole big triangle. Keep up with me Ace."_

He couldn't lie and say that he wasn't relived to find out that she didn't blame everything on him. Still he couldn't deny that he didn't feel like he wasn't helping the problem any. If he wasn't so selfish he would leave her, and let her get back to that happy place she was once lived. Sadly he was selfish and he couldn't let her go. There was no way in the world that he could let her go. He saw her eye twitch and it was then that he knew that sometimes Rory wasn't asleep. Sometimes she laid there in his arms thinking just like he did. That was comforting to know. "I know your awake Ace." He whispered quietly into her ear.

"What gave me away?" she asked as she began to smile. She was thinking about them and how good it was to be with someone who didn't make you feel like a bad person.

Logan shook his head. "The eye twitch totally killed it for you. So last night was pretty interesting."

Rory sat up and stretched. "So you finally met my father. Did you he surprise you?"

Logan laughed. "Nope he was a lot like you in fact. You share a lot of the same mannerisms. You have the same smile. Your mother has this big mega-watt smile, but you and your dad have this small much sweeter smile."

"You really think we have a lot in common?" she asked as she began to fiddle with her hair.

"Yeah you too seem to be a lot alike. I mean I don't really know him that well yet, but you seem to have a lot in common. You both are much quieter people. You both have this tendency of biting your lip a little when you aren't sure what to say. I mean just little things like that I guess. What hasn't anyone ever told you that you were alike before?"

Rory scoffed as she got out of her bed to get her robe. She motioned for him to follow her into the kitchen area so that she could get some coffee made. "Most people don't really know my father. We weren't exactly close when I was growing up. Still I can't believe you got all those things in from such a short meeting."

Logan laughed and shrugged. "What can I say other than that I'm observant? What was he like a dead beat dad when you were a kid or something?" Logan and Rory had never really discussed her father before. They'd briefly discussed her mother a few times, but not really her father. It always seemed a discussion about Christopher Hayden was off limits.

"My mother and my father were high school sweethearts. They were kind of like the perfect couple growing up. They did everything your normal Hartford couple would do. My mom ended up pregnant but I guess you already guessed that part. My father wanted to marry her. He asked her I think it was supposed to be like nine times or something he even had a ring. Still she always said no. My father ended up following his parent's plan and instead of marrying my mother he went to Princeton. He used to come back and visit every weekend. He would take me to the park. At least that's what my grandmother said." Rory abruptly finished her story and began to drink her coffee and check the refrigerator for something to eat.

"That's it? That was your whole relationship. It sounds like you're missing a lot of information. Actually Ace I'm pretty surprised your journalistic instincts didn't kick in so that you could find out the whole truth." Logan stated as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

Rory cringed a little when he made the remark about her journalistic abilities but quickly hid it. She wondered if there was more than she knew. It made sense that no one had really finished the story for her. She thought about who to ask. She couldn't go to her mother. Her grandparents were visiting friends at Hyannis Port this weekend. Her father was her only real option. "Fine let's get dressed and go over and ask him for the rest of the story."

"Huh?" Logan asked. He'd simply made the comment. He hadn't really expected her to go through with it. He was sure that she wouldn't go snooping around. Rory wasn't that type of girl. She simply often just accepted things. She was very fatalistic that way.

"I think it's brilliant. I mean I've never really talked about the early years with him. It's like there's this whole chunk of my life that I'm missing. I'm sure he was there. He had to be. My grandmother who was never a fan of my father even pointed out that he always made a point to see me. He was a freshman in college and still took the time to be with me. I think you're onto something. We totally could have this whole Katie and Matt thing going on, Finn could even be our Al and seeing as we have to give Colin a part we'll make him Harry." Rory joked as she went into her bedroom to find something suitable to wear. She wanted to look nice. She wanted him to see that when she wasn't in sad mode she actually cleaned up really well.

Logan followed her to her bedroom. "Did you just compare us to people from the Today Show?" Logan couldn't help but smile. Slowly but surely he felt her returning to him. It was the first time in a while that Rory had talked about having a real job. She was talking about being a reporter again. He knew not to read into it too much, but still was she finally going to give up on being a lazy bum. "If so I think you're right. Colin is too much of a tight wad to be Al. Plus if anyone we knew could be black it would have to be Finn. Remind me to make him to show you his Barry White impression."

"Is it as bad as his "Passion of the Christ" re-enactment?" Rory asked as she found a plain white dress from the back and proceeded to take it into the bathroom with her. "There are a couple of your shirts and pants hanging in the back of the closet. I suggest you put on new clothes seeing as my father saw you in the ones you were wearing yesterday."

"Oh my God Barry has to be worse but in a less offensive manner. When did my shirts and pants get into your closet?" Logan asked as he went in there to retrieve them in disbelief. He must have been really drunk that night. He didn't even have the vaguest idea of doing it.

"Stephanie brought them over the other day. I swear she's one of the only other people who doesn't think I'm a complete moron for taking a year off." Rory called from the bathroom.

Logan opened the bathroom door to join her. "I don't think you're a moron."

"You agree with my mother on the fact that I should stay in school. You don't think I can do this." Rory replied as she started the shower.

Logan kissed her bare shoulder softly and then whispered in her ears. "It's not that I don't think you can do it's that I don't want you to do it because I'm selfish and I want my girlfriend with me at college. I want to be able to bust into your classes and to meet you at coffee stands. Plus God help me I think I've grown fond of Paris' death threats."

Rory kissed Logan and pulled him into the shower with her. "We'll still have that even if I'm not at Yale. Okay well maybe not the death threats. Still you can burst into the D.A.R. office and embarrass."

Logan kissed her forehead before responding. "Promise me you'll think about coming back. Just promise me you'll think about it. It's not as if I'm asking you to sign an organ donor card or anything. I'm just asking you to think about coming back to school."

"And if I refuse?" she asked coyly.

"Well then maybe I'll just stop doing this." He kissed her passionately on the lips. It was actually so passionate that it shocked him. He couldn't believe that the once timid Rory Gilmore was making out with him in her shower. Rory was living proof that people change.

When Rory was finally done kissing him she found it hard to breathe. There was something about Logan's kisses that left a person feeling light headed. "Well if you put it that way then I guess I'll have to promise to think about it."

Thanks for reading. I love that so many people like this story. I hope that this chapter was good enough for all of the Rogan fans. The next chapter will make Christopher even more human. Please tell me what you think. I love to read the reviews. They just make my day.


	4. The Big Talk

Christopher sighed as he parked his car. He had hoped that would work. He had hoped that all someone had to do was tell her what she was doing and she would realize that she is causing everything in her life to fall apart. He had hoped that if she had found out that Rory was so desperate that she had come to him that Lorelai would snap out of this funk. His hopes had gone unanswered. Part of him was pretty sure that everything started to go downhill for them after the vow renewal. He still regretted showing up, getting drunk, and then of course professing his love for Lorelai who was happy with another man. At the time he had convinced himself that it was an artificial attraction but there was something about the way Lorelai's face lit up when she was with Luke that made him realize that she wasn't faking. Christopher slightly shook his head and then walked to his front door. He knew that Lorelai would come around. It was the way she was. He just hoped that Rory would still want her when she was finally done coping. He opened his front door and was surprised to see that Gigi was sitting quietly in front of the television playing with one of her Barbie dolls. He picked his young daughter up off of the floor and carried her into the kitchen so he could pay her nanny, Jamie. Much to his surprise instead of seeing Jamie when he walked into the kitchen he saw Rory pouring a cup of juice and Logan making an omelet. "What are you guys doing here so early?" Silently he struggled to remember if he had told Jamie where was going this morning.

Rory smiled and shrugged. "Well I felt awful about last night. It was so rude of me to just barge in so Logan and I decided that we would make breakfast. It was so nice talking to you last night. I thought we could talk so more."

"Yeah that sounds great. Still I want to clarify that you didn't barge in Rory. This is your home too. Well if you wanted it to be your home. I do realize that you've never actually spent the night here." Christopher sort of rambled. Before he had responded he couldn't help but notice just a twinge of nervousness in Rory's voice.

"Thanks dad. I'll keep that offer in mind. So well I sort of came here to talk to you about a specific topic Dad. I don't know if it's a sour one or not." Rory slowly transitioned into what she wanted to discuss with him.

"Well I still have biscuits in the oven that are going to take about fifteen more minutes so I guess I'll just take Miss Gigi into the living room so we can finish watching last nights game on NESN. Gigi has a thing for Johnny Damon." Logan joked in an awkward but casual sort of way as he took the young, squirming toddler from her father and carried her out of the room as if she was an airplane. He didn't want anything to go on in that kitchen but for Rory to find out the truth. There was something about Christopher that made Logan believe that Lorelai hadn't exactly lead her daughter to realistic beliefs about her father.

As soon as Logan had left the room Christopher focused all of his attention on Rory. There was something in the way she was nervously folding, unfolding, and then refolding a cloth napkin on the table that let him know that she was about to ask about something big. "So what is this specific topic?"

"Well I was wondering if we could talk about the early years. Like when I was younger and when mom and I were first living in Stars Hollow."

Christopher gulped. He didn't know if he should tell her the truth or let her believe what her mother had always raised her to assume, that her father wasn't there because he didn't want to be. He looked Rory in the eyes and knew that he couldn't lie. It would hurt her too much if she ever found out the truth. "Okay your mother never told me that she had any intention on moving or leaving Hartford. One weekend I came up from school to see you because I'd bought you this dumb Princeton t-shirt or something. Well I went to your grandparent's house and was informed by a grief-stricken Emily that your mother had basically runaway from home. I hired a private investigator as soon as I got back to Princeton. It took him almost eight months to find your mother. When I got to the inn where she was working I was shocked. I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it. Everything was so different than what we were used to."

_Christopher parked his Beemer in front of the old hotel and silently made his way to the front door. He looked at the sheet of paper Mark had given him and made sure that it matched the address on the door. He was wearing a button down white shirt, a pair of freshly pressed khakis, brown loafers, and the Rolex watch his grandmother had given him for his birthday. He looked around at all the other people in the town and realized that he sort of stuck out. Hopefully they would all just think he was a tourist. He walked into the inn the same way Chilton taught you to walk into the world; as if you owned it. He made his way to the front desk where an old woman sat doing a crossword. "Hi I'm looking for Lorelai Gilmore." _

_The old woman looked at him suspiciously. No one had come looking for Lorelai since the day she got here. She made no phone calls. She did nothing but take care of her daughter. She glanced at him one more time and then realized instantly that he had to be the father or Lorelai's baby. He had the same smile as little Rory. "Right now Lorelai is doing the turn over service upstairs but I think I know where to find someone else you may want to see." _

_Christopher silently thought that this woman must be messed up in the head but followed her to the back of the old building. It only took him a moment to spot Rory sitting in the corner playing quietly by all by her lonesome. "Thank you that'll be all." He didn't even bother to try correcting the fact that he had just talked to her like a servant or something. Quickly he crossed the room and picked her up out of her crib. She cooed at him._

_Lorelai made her way down the staircase walking like an Egyptian. She was wearing a frilly maid's outfit that did nothing for her. It had taken her over two hours to get the hotel ready for new guests but now she was finally down and could go see her daughter. She didn't even notice when Martha called her name. No, she was too focused on finding Rory. When she walked into the back room where Rory always played she stopped dead in her tracks. "What are you doing here Christopher?"_

_Christopher stood up with Rory in his arms and walked to where Lorelai was standing. "I've come to see Rory. Still I think the appropriate question really should be what are YOU doing HERE?"_

"_This is where we live now Christopher. Nothing you can say will change that." Lorelai replied defensively._

_He sighed and took a deep breath. He wasn't looking for a fight. He just wanted to see Rory. He just wanted to hold the little girl he created in his arms. "I just wanted to see Rory. It doesn't matter to me where you live as long as occasionally I can see my daughter."_

_Lorelai nodded. "Yeah you can come visit her."_

"_I was thinking maybe I would you both out for the day. How does that sound?" Christopher asked quietly. You could tell that he was hoping she would say yes. Life without Lorelai wasn't worth living. He didn't know how to express that to her without sounding just a wee bit suicidal but it was true. She made everything worth living because of her smile, her laughter, her quirky sense of humor._

_Lorelai looked at him and could tell that he really wanted her to go. She wanted to say yes, but she couldn't. There would be no turning back if she went with him now. She didn't want Rory to live that life, and sadly Christopher was part of that life. "I don't think so, but I guess it would be all right if you took Rory out for a couple of hours. Just have her back by two okay."_

Rory looked at her father confused. "You mean you tried to be there for us. You tried to make us a real family and she turned you away."

"It's not that simple Rory though I wish it was. Your mother wanted you to be raised a specific way. I think she didn't think it was right to raise you the way we were raised. Sometimes I think when your mother looks back she finds all of the bad and very little of the good." Christopher attempted to explain. "Actually come with me I have something to show you."

Rory followed her father up the long staircase. She thought that he was going to take her to his office or his bedroom, but instead he stopped at a linen closet. Without explaining why they were standing there he opened the door and pulled down a box. "Can I look at this for a while?" she asked quietly as he handed the plastic container to her.

"Of course I'll go downstairs and talk to Logan while you look. I think this will help you see Hartford in a different light."

Logan took his biscuits out of the oven and smiled triumphantly because of the perfect shade of golden brown. He wondered silently what Rory and her father must be doing upstairs. He took the fact that he hadn't her any loud outburst as a good sign. He knew that there was something more to be discovered about her parent's relationship. There seemed to be too many holes.

"You must have gone to Adler." Christopher stated with a small smile as he watched Logan slowly make plates of food.

Logan looked up a little startled. "Yeah how'd you know?"

"I had five roommates in college that went to Adler and they all knew how to cook. I thought it was crazy. Finally one of them told me that you're taught to basically take care of yourself at Adler. They try to make you view the world as more than just a playground."

Logan laughed. "Yeah, wow, Princeton huh?"

"Princeton was my parent's idea. Still it was a pretty good five years."

"Five?" Logan asked a bit surprised to hear that Rory wasn't the first one in her family to not go to school for a straight four years.

Christopher shrugged. "Yeah I took a year off to think about things you know. I had to clear my head. Things were sort of frazzled for a while."

"I completely understand that feeling." Logan admitted. He left out the part about sinking the yacht.

Christopher looked at Logan for a moment completely silent as if he was collecting his thoughts. Then suddenly he spoke up. "I know you think Lorelai hates you, but she doesn't. Once upon a time Lorelai and I were just like you. Privileged and always pulling crazy stunts. Right now things are sort of falling apart, so I just I want you to know how much it means to me that Rory has someone to be there right now. She really needs someone to be her rock. I'm happy she has you to be that person for her. I can tell you really love her. That's why I'm going to forget that whole incident at the vow renewal. We all were sort of on our worst behavior that night."

Logan mumbled something about going to check on Rory and simply left the room. He didn't really know what to say except that he was really that Rory's dad was at least a fan of him. He was halfway up the stairs when he saw her sitting in the hallway pouring over pictures and stuff from a box. He sat down beside her and just watched as she stared at old photographs.

"Do you ever think we'll be this happy?" Rory asked quietly as she showed him a picture of her parents taken on some random day. They were both still wearing their uniforms. Her father's arm was snug protectively around her mother's waist as if to say back off she's mine and to simply bring her as close as possible. They were smiling like two kids on the fourth of July.

Logan smiled and whispered in her ear. "I think we already are."


	5. I'll Be Ready

She was sitting alone at her desk when he walked in. She was bent over and deep in thought. He stood there watching her for a few minutes not saying anything. It was another one of those moments where he thought she was so beautiful that she took his breath away. If he told her that he felt that way about her she would shrug it off and tell him to stop using such old fashioned clichés. He shrugged off his jacket and threw it on one of the chairs. As quietly as he possibly could he snuck up behind her and kissed the back of her neck.

She jumped a little and then turned around. She let her smile talk for her. She let it ask him why he was here instead of at school where he was supposed to be. 

He shrugged. "I needed to be with you. I miss you so much. Between this D.A.R. thing you're planning and fall semester starting up I've just been dying to see you." He kissed her softly on the forehead.

She sighed. She missed him too. It was like they never had time to see each other anymore. Things at the D.A.R. were so crazy and now she was planning this big bash and she was sort of worried that she was out of her league when it came to this. She knew that he was busy to. His father was riding him hard to finish school this year and probably didn't help that he was still dating her. "How is Yale?"

Logan looked at her and sighed. "It's absolutely boring without you. The milk maid is learning English, or rather Australian. Finn has sort of come accustom to spending a great deal of time with her. Colin is Colin and I think he's in love with Stephanie. Paris wants to kill me. Really kill me. She keeps threatening to dismember me. I miss you there. I go to our coffee cart every morning and you're not there."

"Finn being in love with Colin's mild maid is quite the funny twist. Plus Colin has always been in love with Stephanie. I mean come on it's so obvious. The only question is will she ever love him back. Paris will stop wanting to kill you soon enough it's just she's not used to being poor." Rory joked. She made a point to avoid the topic of her not being there. She sensed that Logan wanted her at Yale more than anyone else.

Logan shook his head and sort of half laughed. "I can't believe you're going to try to avoid the subject like that. I mean Rory it's sort of an important one. I miss you. I really miss you."

Rory got up from her chair and sort of paced around the room. "I know you miss me it's just Logan I need to do this right now. I really like working for the D.A.R. and I'm good at it. I miss you too and of course I miss Yale it's just this is what I need right now."

"And you need to me to at least try and support your decision to take time off. I know we've been over this a million times it's just I never thought you would go this long. I mean how much more time are you going to need?" Logan asked in a soft voice. He didn't want to fight with her about his. It was just he had to know.

Rory ran her hand over her face really quickly and then took a seat. She closed her eyes. "I still have about ninety more hours of community service left. Then I have a few more big events with the D.A.R. so I don't know. I'll be back by spring semester more than likely. Can you deal with that Logan?"

Logan walked over to where she was standing and kneeled down. He took her hands into his and smiled. It wasn't his usually cocky grin. It was more like a soft and simple thank you kind of smile. "So you'll be back by spring? You're not just saying that to end the subject. Because if you'll be back by spring then I'll stop pestering you about when you're going to coming back."

Rory nodded and then she smiled. She'd go back in the spring. She would only take a semester off. For the first time in a long time she felt her age. She once again felt twenty.

"We need to celebrate. We need to do something crazy. We need to make a memory." Logan started to ramble. He pulled Rory up out of her chair and kissed her on the cheek. He was so happy to hear that she wasn't going to stay away. He needed to know that she was going to give into temptation sooner or later. He'd felt so miserable all this time because he knew that he could have helped her avoid this situation.

Emily watched as Rory and Logan pulled out of the driveway. She smiled at how happy her granddaughter looked whenever she was with Logan. She was sitting on her bed looking through a Spiegel's catalog when she heard the boy pull up. She knew that Richard was downstairs in his study listening to an old jazz record and doing some work. She thought about going downstairs and joining him. She started to get out of bed and pull on her robe. As she started to leave the room the phone rang. She thought about not answering it for a moment and then decided against it. She picked up her phone and in her usual smooth high class voice replied "Hello?"

Francine Hayden was sitting in her parlor sipping a glass of chardonnay wondering if she should have bothered Emily. Things between them had never been the same since Lorelai ended up pregnant. It really strained their relationship. At the time Francine hadn't wanted to admit the truth about the fact that Christopher and Lorelai were better off together than they were apart, but ever since the death of Straub she had started to question her decisions in life. "Emily its Francine. I thought maybe we could talk."

Emily was caught off guard and sat down on her bed. "Hello Francine it's been a long time hasn't it." For the first time Emily was at a loss for what to say.

"Yes it has been a long time. I hope you got my thank you card for the flowers. It was very kind of you to send them."

"It was the least we could do. Once upon a time we were all good friends." Emily wasn't sure that was really the right thing to say, but she had to.

Francine took a deep breath. "I wanted to apologize for the way I treated Lorelai. Ever since Straub died I've really been thinking and it was very wrong of me to do that to her. Christopher gives me pictures of Rory. She's quite beautiful. He told me that she was taking some time off at Yale."

"You know Francine it sounds like you want to maybe see Rory. I mean I hope that's not too forward of me to say."

"No it's not because I would like to see her. It's always been one of my biggest regrets. I would like to maybe know her better. I'm sure she thinks Straub and I are horrible people."

"Rory is the sweetest girl. She doesn't harbor any resentment towards you one way or the other. She is planning this D.A.R. fundraiser for our boys at Ft. Drum. You should try and buy tickets. I would think Christopher would like to join you. We would love it if you joined us." Emily felt awful for Francine. She had recently lost the only person who ever really meant anything to her. Christopher had left her a long time ago. Still Straub had always been there for his wife. Now that he was gone Emily understood that Francine was lost. She wanted her only son back. She wanted her family to be put back together.

"Thank you very much for this Emily. I really need this right now." Francine confessed. "What should I know about Rory?"

Emily smiled. "She's brilliant and beautiful. She's not snobby like most of the teens. She's very humble about who she is. Sometimes I think she doesn't realize just how important she is. She's also dating Logan Huntzberger."

"Oh please tell me he's not Shira and Mitchum Huntzberger's child."

"You don't like the Huntzberger's?" Emily was a little surprised.

Francine sighed. "They are just so stuck up. I mean really and they think they are the best this town has to offer. I don't think they realize that they aren't the richest people in this town."

Emily laughed. "I don't think anybody realizes that they aren't. Really the other day Constance kept going on and on about how much money they have. Nobody even tried to point out the fact that you have always had the most money. Logan's a sweet boy though. He's very appropriate for Rory."

Francine sighed. "I guess I'll just have to take your word for it. Still his mother is absolutely horrible."

Rory and Logan got back to the pool house late that night. They had both had more then their fair share of drinks meaning they took a cab back. After spending a good hour of their evening in bed Logan came up with the brilliant to find them a song. He turned the radio in the living room on and told her that whatever song came on next would be their song.

Rory came out and followed him. He was wearing his boxers and she was wearing his shirt. She smiled when she heard what song came on. It was perfect for them. He sang the song softly in her eye. "I can't help falling in love with you…." So they danced in her living room to that song as if there was no one else on the planet…as if nothing else mattered, because for a fleeting moment nothing else did.


	6. The Marvelous Event

Emily Gilmore watched as her young granddaughter passionately kissed Logan Huntzberger just before he got into a cab and rode away. If it had been twenty one years ago and that had Lorelai and the boy had been Christopher Emily would have marched down there and berated both of them for their irresponsibility but now she simply watched and smiled. Her granddaughter seemed to be happy for the first time in a while. As soon as she saw Rory turn to come inside the house she sat down at the table and pretended to be inspecting her grapefruit.

"Good morning Grandma." Rory replied as she sat down at the table and began fixing a plate for herself. "I'm so excited about tonight's event. Did you feel excited about the first event you planned?"

Emily was a little surprised by the question. No one really ever asked Emily about her past. A lot of times it seemed as if most people treated Emily like she was born an adult. "No I was more nervous than excited. My first event was my mother's fiftieth birthday party. I was so afraid that she would think my ideas were tacky."

"How did it go?"

Emily smiled wistfully. "My mother told me afterwards that it was marvelous. It was the first time I really felt like I was good at something."

Rory smiled. She took a bite of her bacon and went back to checking over the arrangements. She knew that she would have to double check all of the plans that she had made. If one thing went wrong she knew that she would have to deal with a big problem.

"Rory there's something I must tell you about tonight." Emily thought it best to warn Rory about Francine's presence rather than allow the woman to shock Rory.

"What's the matter?" Rory asked cautiously. She didn't like the way her grandmother sounded so nervous about the situation.

"Nothing is the matter. I just wanted to let you know that last I talked to Francine as in Christopher's mother and your grandmother. Well she's interested in getting to know you. I suggested that she come to the event tonight. She's going to be there Rory. I thought you would like to know."

Rory didn't know how to feel. Normally this would be a moment where she would call her grandmother and explain the situation but she wasn't talking to her mother and she couldn't bash Francine to her father. "Why would she want to know me? She didn't want to know me before."

"Rory, when you were created it was a very hard situation. Your grandfather and I were best friends with Straub and Francine. I mean the best of friends. The four of us always wanted your mother to marry your father. Things wouldn't have gone as awry if only your mother had married your father. She refused. When she didn't follow the plan Christopher jumped off the bandwagon also. It was a hard time for everyone. I spent a month in bed sobbing and wondering why your mother had to leave us. Christopher was never the same after that. The four of us lost our children, and at the time it always seemed like it was because of you. Still thinking back I think your mother would have left me with or without you being conceived. Rory Francine needs you right now. She lost her husband and I know he was an ass to you but he was her husband. The two of them loved each other so much." Emily tried to make her granddaughter see why she shouldn't hate Francine.

"They actually used to like my mother."

Emily laughed a little. "They adored your mother when she was younger. I just don't know if we were ready for the types of teenagers we had. Our generation was nothing like your parents. We were more respectful. We didn't know that you were allowed to be moody. Before Straub died he called your grandfather and told him that he always wished Lorelai and you had been Haydens. He said life would have been more interesting. He apologized for the way he spoke to you as well as about you. He said you seemed to be a lovely girl."

"Really?" Rory didn't think a man like Straub was capable of such kind words.

Emily nodded sagely. "Straub had a lot of time to think those last few months. You know they have a picture of you hanging in their foyer. It's from your debutante ball. They wanted to come and tell you how lovely you looked that evening but they were afraid you would not want to give them the time of day."

"It's sad the things you learn about a person after they die. It's sort of like why couldn't they just share their thoughts, feelings, and concerns with you before they died. Why do they have to keep so many things bottled up until it is too late?" Rory replied as she took yet another bite of her bacon.

Emily looked at her granddaughter and simply shrugged. "I don't know. Well I've got to be going I've got to pick up your grandfather's suit from the cleaners. Francine really isn't that terrible. I'll see you this evening. Will Logan be there?"

"He said that he would try to make the end of it. He wants to go out to eat afterwards."

Emily nodded and smiled. "You two are very cute together. No matter what your mother thinks about the relationship I think he's good for you as you are also good for him. He keeps you young and you mature him. You two were very cute this morning."

Before Rory could even reply Emily was already on her way out. Rory knew that she was blushing. Her grandmother had seen Logan leaving the pool house this morning. That meant that she knew that he had spent the night. She sighed. She couldn't stress about this right now. She ate a couple more pieces of bacon and then left the dining room.

Christopher Hayden sat in the parlor of his parent's old house. He felt like he was sixteen again waiting for his parent's to be ready to go to some stupid event. Instead of being excited about seeing Lorelai he was now excited about seeing his daughter. When his mother called last night and suggested that they attend the event together he was more than just a little surprised. Then when he got here he realized she was nervous. She was fidgety. She was anything but her usual self. "Mom you know I realize you haven't been to an event in a while, and that it is your first even without dad, but do you think we could hurry it up a little. I'd like to see Rory before she gets super busy."

Francine Hayden looked at herself in the mirror one last time and then sighed. She took a deep breath and then made the sign of the cross. She wanted Rory to get that she wasn't that woman she had met all those years ago. She walked down the stairs and smiled at her son. He seemed to be shocked by her appearance. She looked down and wondered if she looked dreadful. It had been a long time since she had found herself dressing up for something like this, at least a couple of years. Straub had been diagnosed with cancer a year and a half ago and since then they spent most of their time wondering how they got to be so alone. "What do I look bad?"

"No it's just…isn't that the necklace Lorelai gave you for your fortieth birthday?" Christopher knew the answer was yes. They had been fifteen at the time and had spent an entire day looking for that necklace. As soon as Lorelai saw it she knew that his mother would love it. Francine wore it everyday for the next year. She was actually wearing it the night Lorelai announced she was pregnant. The necklace went back into its jewelry box that night and didn't see the light for the next twenty years.

Francine smiled. "I thought it would be a nice touch. I want Rory to know that I don't hate her or her mother." Francine looked down at her feet. "You know Christopher your father always regretted the way he acted after you became a father."

Christopher nodded. "I think you look stunning. Now let's go or next thing you know we'll show up and it'll be nearly over."

Rory was busy ordering people around when she felt two hands snake over her eyes. She jumped a little and then smiled.

Logan whispered softly in her ear. "Guess who…"

"I don't know is it…Theo Epstein?" Rory replied with a sly smile.

Logan laughed. "You wished. No instead it's just little old me."

Rory gave him a kiss. "I thought you weren't coming until the end."

Logan shrugged. "What can I say I felt like I should be here to support you. I always thought you should know that my parents are going to show up unannounced. They asked me if it was true if you were the one organizing the event. So I decided to be extremely sweet. Colin, Finn, and Stephanie are on their way here. We're not going to let my douche bag parents to ruin your big event."

Rory looked at him and smiled. She gave him a kiss on the forehead and then a big hug. "My grandmother Francine is going to be here tonight."

'Francine?" Logan had never heard Rory refer to anyone as her grandmother other than Emily. Then again she never discussed her father either.

Rory sort of laughed. She realized that Francine and Straub was just another thing she had never told Logan about. God he used to think she was so easy to get. That was the biggest and dumbest assumption anyone could ever make about her. She was probably the most complicated debutante in the history of Hartford. "My father's parents are Straub and Francine Hayden. You may have heard of them. My grandfather was one of the most successful attorneys in the state. I once read that he did a lot of pro bono work. My grandfather is dead. He was an ass the one time I met him. So I never really talked to them. Now Francine is alone and she wants to know me. She's coming here tonight, presumably with my father."

"Your father is Christopher Hayden as in the Haydens." Logan asked shocked. He always wondered about Rory's pedigree. He never really thought to be two and two together.

"Yeah I'm guessing you didn't realize that. Still I hear she once was a very lovely woman. Aren't you even going to give me an I hope you feel better kiss?" she asked sweetly. She had spent most of the day thinking about Francine and had decided that she get to know this woman as a widow and then make her decision.

Logan gave her a quick kiss and then another quick kiss. He started to kiss her again but stopped himself and explained. "I must leave you to do your chairperson duties. You better save a dance for me."

"Oh I will trust me." She watched as he started to walk away. "Logan…" she called after him.

He turned around and looked at her. "Yeah Ace?"

"Thanks for coming tonight. It really means a lot to me." she said with a small smile. It was the first time she ever had a boyfriend who did these things for her. Dean tried but he just didn't have the class. Jess never even attempted trying. Logan he did it and he did it well. She felt like she finally found somebody who she could love.

Francine spotted Rory as soon as she walked into the event. Her granddaughter was wearing a getup from the 40s and looked smashing. She looked up at her son and smiled. She patted his hand and said "Go find your old friends I'm sure there is somebody here that you could talk to."

"Are you sure?" Christopher asked his mother. He thought that she would want him to stay near all evening.

She simply nodded. "It's time for me to make my debut. I need to seem independent. Plus you'll make me seem so clingy." She joked and gave her son a quick peck on the cheek. "Do bring Rory over here in a little while so I can get acquainted with her."

"Will do." Christopher said and then watched as his mother walked over to Richard and Emily. He smiled when he saw Emily hug his mother. As long as she had Emily to watch over her he knew that his mother would be okay.

Logan grabbed Rory by her waist and whispered in her ear "Did you miss me?"

"Why of course I did." She replied and then spun around to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Are you having a good time?"

"Well it does lack the ability to form a sub-party but all in all it seems as though it's a really great event. The first time I didn't find myself wanting to fall asleep within the first ten minutes. Oh and Finn wants to know if you can score him the Andrews sisters phone numbers."

"Why does he want to hire them for his next big birthday bash or something?" Rory asked though she knew that wasn't the real reason.

Logan laughed. "No, it's more like he wants to know if they'd be interested in a triple date as in one of him and all three of them."

Rory laughed. It was then that she noticed her father talking to a guy around his age. She smiled. "Come say hello to my father with me."

Logan started to say something to her but realized that she was already walking away.

Christopher Hayden hugged his daughter and shook Logan's hand. "You look wonderful Rory. I love the costume. It's good to see you again Logan."

"I agree. We really should play another round of golf sometime."

"We really must. Well Rory I don't know if Emily told you but I came with someone tonight. She's really dying to see you Rory." Christopher stated slowly. He didn't want Rory to feel like he was pushing his mother on her.

Rory nodded. "Where is she?"

Christopher smiled. Only Rory would be this kind when it came to a woman who had been previously horrible to her. "She's with Emily. Logan if you don't mind I'd like to steal Rory for a moment."

"Oh it's no problem I really should get back to Finn on that number thing anyhow I assume the answer is no."

Rory laughed. "The answer is definitely no."

Logan watched as Rory followed her father over to where he grandmother was standing. He hoped that Francine really had changed for Rory's sake. Rory couldn't take another kick in the pants. Not with his parents on their way here.

Christopher gently tapped on his mother's shoulder and turned her around. "Mother I'd like you to meet your granddaughter again."

Francine smiled. "It's good to see you again. You've grown even more beautiful than the last time I saw you. I thought that was nearly impossible. You seem to have your mother's good looks."

Rory blushed a little at the compliment. "You look stunning as well. That's a very interesting necklace you're wearing."

Francine nodded. "Your mother gave it to me a very long time ago."

Rory looked at her a bit surprised.

"Rory I don't want to keep you from your duties I just wanted to say hello. I thought maybe you wouldn't mind coming over for lunch tomorrow afternoon. We can go anywhere you'd like. I'd like to get to know you. This event is just marvelous."

Rory nodded. "I'd like that a lot. I'll call you first thing in the morning and we can make all the arrangements then."

Shira walked into the room as if she owned the place. She didn't care that they hadn't bought tickets. She didn't care that they hadn't donated any money. As a Huntzberger it was her right to be here. She told her the girl at the front that she realized she wasn't on the list but was there any room. She watched as the girl scampered away to find the person in charge.

Rory turned around to see Lannie standing there looking exasperated. "There is a Shira Huntzberger at the front wanting to know if we have a table for her."

Rory sighed. "Just put her at my grandparent's table. They have a couple of extra seats." Rory's voice sounded defeated. She loathed woman like Shira Huntzberger who felt they could just come in here and demand a place for themselves. She would have sent her away but knew that it would be unwise. The Huntzberger's already didn't like her enough as is.

Francine looked at Shira rather distastefully as Shira introduced herself. "I know who you are. The question is do you know who I am?"

Shira shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't."

"Shira this is my good friend, and Rory's Grandmother Francine Hayden." Emily introduced the two.

"Oh it's lovely to meet you." Shira replied sweetly.

Francine looked at Shira for a moment and said. "I can't say the feeling is mutual. I've heard about the way you spoke to my granddaughter and I would just like you to know that the name Hayden has always been much more prestigious than Huntzberger. Your son is lucky to have my granddaughter. Oh and before you compare money with anyone I'd like you to know that Rory is worth much more than your son could even imagine." Francine paused. "Oh and even if she wasn't a Hayden everyone knows Gilmore's have more class and poise than a Huntzberger could even attempt to muster."

Shira stood there shocked at a loss for words. She looked at Emily who was trying to hide a smile and then at everyone else in the small group. For the first time she felt small. "Well I guess you're entitled to your feelings." Shira spit out before walking away trying to mask the fact that she blushing.

I don't know if this was awful or great. I had a good time writing this chapter. For the longest time I just couldn't start it. I wanted Francine to put Shira in her place because no one else seemed to have the courage to do so. Please tell me what you think. Oh and I'm so sorry it took so long to update.


	7. Morning Rituals

Rory woke up and smiled just as she did every morning when she found him lying next to her. She gently kissed his cheek before getting out of bed. She pulled on her robe and quietly padded to the kitchen where she started the coffee maker. While it was brewing she went and grabbed the three papers that were placed neatly on the front steps of the pool house. The New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the Hartford Courant were all parts of her morning ritual. She didn't really read the times as much, that was more Logan's speed. Her personal favorite was the Globe. She loved the editorials. She even read the sports articles just because she loved the die hard pessimistic attitude that all Bostonians seemed to have. She grabbed her cup of coffee and then quietly returned to her room. Her feet were sore, but other than that today appeared to be starting off right. No morning interruptions from her grandmother questioning whether or not she was awake and coming to breakfast. No odd visits from the housekeeper asking if she wanted breakfast in bed. No it was just her, her coffee, her newspapers, and of course her boyfriend. She looked over at him and smiled again. He was so cute when he was sleeping.

He opened one eye slowly and looked at her. She was reading the paper. She was so cute when she was reading the paper. It was the little things she did that made him find it impossible to stay away from her. Like the way she bit her lip when she was wondering where an article was going. Or even the way she would smile about a certain line. He found it endearing that she read the sports page from beginning to end even though she didn't care about how many home runs David Ortiz had in last nights game against the Mariners or the team predicted to win the Beanpot this year. "Good morning…" he whispered quietly before kissing her arm.

"Morning…" she kissed him on the lips before tossing him the Times. She went right back to reading. She loved that he understood her love of papers. Some guys would have found it to be such a turn off that the first thing she did in the morning was drink coffee and read, but Logan loved it. He loved every minute of it. This was one of the things that they did.

He was reading with a particular interesting peace about the current religious situation in Iran when his cell phone rang. He picked it up and smiled. "Good morning Honor."

"_Good morning Logan. I assume you're with Rory. I called your room a particular sober Finn told me that you hardly stayed there anymore. Then he went into some long tirade about how he couldn't find a decent bottle of tequila anywhere in New Haven." _

"Sounds like something Finn would complain about. Well to what do I owe this phone call?" Logan replied cutting to the chase.

"_I hate it when you make me cut to the chase. You know we hardly ever talk and when we do it's for like five minutes because we cut to the chase." She tried to pretend that her feelings were actually hurt but was finding it hard. _

"Honor…" Logan was starting to get bored with this conversation. He knew Rory was watching him. She also knew that Honor didn't just call to chat. She called to drop bombshells.

_Honor sighed. "Fine I'll cut to the chase. Last night mother called me and told me that Francine Hayden, basically cut her down as if she was an axe murderer or something. Now imagine my surprise when mother goes on to tell me that Francine's only granddaughter is your current girlfriend. Our mother also is livid because she discovered that all of the women at the club like Francine more. They basically gave her the silent treatment last night."_

Logan was shocked. He didn't know what to say. "Are you kidding me?"

"_Could I make something like that up? It appears young Rory has a much better pedigree than we do. Are you saying that you didn't know Rory was a Hayden?"_

"No, no I knew it's just I didn't realize that there was a woman out there who didn't give a shit that our mother was married to Mitchum Huntzberger. I wonder if this means she hates me like she does our mother." Logan couldn't believe this. He had Christopher in his corner. Did that mean his mother would be there too? Rory was going to eat lunch with Francine today. Would she tell her granddaughter that she could do better than a Huntzberger? The fact of the matter was up until recently Logan appeared to be of much better "breeding" than Rory, but know he realized her blood was bluer than his ever could be. She had the kind of pedigree that said I could marry a Kennedy if I wanted to.

_Honor knew her brother was worrying. She knew that he was wondering if this was going to cause the death of his and Rory's relationship. "Don't worry so much Logan. I think she basically just hates our parents. Just don't piss her off. Well I have to go. I have a yogalates workshop in twenty minutes."_

He started to say goodbye but realized Honor basically hung up on him. He didn't even get a chance to say something snide about the fact that she was going to a yogalates workshop. He put his phone back down and went back to reading the paper.

"What was that about?" Rory asked slowly. She knew there was something wrong.

Logan sighed and looked at her for a moment. He was trying to find the words to describe his present feelings about the situation. "Last night your grandmother basically told my mother off. Honor just called to tell me. You know you are going to be very in demand soon. I have a feeling a lot of mothers will start trying to convince Emily and Francine to set you up with their son."

Rory noticed that he sounded deflated. "Let them it doesn't matter because I have you. They both know that I have you. My grandmother thinks its sweet, our relationship that is. She knows you stay here overnight."

Logan nodded. He licked his lips. "It's not Emily I worry about. Francine hates my mother. If she hates my mother than she more than likely hates me also."

Rory knew he was serious. She kissed him gently before saying softly. "I don't want to know Francine if she doesn't approve of our relationship. I know she will though Logan. She'll be just like my father. She'll love you. I can feel it."

Logan started to say something when he heard the beep that chimed just before someone started talking on the intercom. Sometimes it made him a little nervous that they had an intercom in here. It also made him nervous to think that both Richard and Emily knew that sometimes he stayed here. Okay it was more than sometimes. He found himself in Rory's bed more than he found himself in his own. He just loved the way it felt to wake up with her in the morning. The drive to and from school was starting to take its' toll but it was still worth it.

"Rory I'm sorry to bother you it's just Francine's on line one to set a time for your lunch today." Emily Gilmore replied and then she was gone just as abruptly as her voice arrived.

Rory picked up and the phone and then looked at him. "Are you busy today?"

"No, not really I sort of just planned on listening to Finn talk about the hot girl he slept with the night before."

"Would you like to come to lunch with us today?" Rory asked with a smile. She knew that Francine wouldn't be able to hate him after she met him.

Logan thought for a moment. "Are you sure about this? It could end up going like my parent's house."

"I doubt she'll be as rude as your mother and grandfather were, but yes I am sure. I'm also sure that if she hates you, then I hate her." Rory looked him in the eyes to make sure that he understood she was serious.

"Okay then I'll go."

Rory pressed line one on her phone. "Hi I'm sorry about the wait."

"_Oh it's no problem I just wanted to call and confirm our plans." Francine was trying to hide the fact that she was both terribly nervous and excited. She wondered if Rory was mad at her about last night. She was sure her young granddaughter had heard about it by now. Shira looked like the kind of woman who loved to play the victim. _

"Okay well how about we meet at the club at 12:30. I was also wondering if it was okay if Logan joined us."

"_That's fine with me. I'll see the two of you at the club at twelve thirty then." Francine assured her granddaughter. There was a brief moment of silence before Rory said. "Thank you again for giving me a second chance Rory. Oh and I can't wait to meet Logan. Your grandmother tells me he's nothing like his retched mother."_

Rory laughed. "No he's not. Well I'll see you in a few hours." As soon as Rory hung up the phone she turned to him and smiled. "She's excited to meet you. She just hopes your nothing like your retched mother."

Logan kissed her softly on the forehead. "Are you sure that I'm not? I can be quite the ass when I want to be."

Rory didn't bother to dignify his answer with a question instead she simply kissed him before she continued reading the paper.

Sorry it took so long to update. I find it takes a while to figure out what I want to happen. I usually start each chapter about three or four times before I finish one. Thanks for reading. I don't know when I'll update. Hopefully it won't take long.


	8. Mission: Figure Out Who

Francine took her seat at the small table in the back of the country club. After sitting there for less than two minutes she glanced down at her watch and sighed. She was fifteen minutes early. She had made a point to be this early. She wanted to see the two of them walk in together. She loved the way a couple looked when they entered a room together. The way Christopher and Lorelai would always hold hands whenever they entered a room together made her smile to just thinking about it. She pulled out her small compact and looked at herself in the mirror. She hoped she appeared to be looser than she used to. Once upon a time Christopher described her look as a tight ass.

Rory applied a little more blush to her cheeks before turning to look at Logan who was sitting next to her in the car no saying much of anything. He had this goofy look on his face. "What?"

Logan just shook his head and laughed a little. "Nothing, it's just well, you look so cute when you're putting on your makeup. I just don't know why you bother. You don't need that stuff. You're radiant."

She smiled and kissed him on the forehead. "Are we ready to do this?"

"You sound like we're getting ready for a mission." Logan said as he got out of the car. He waited for her to join him in front of the car.

Rory laughed. "Well in a sense this is a mission, its mission figure out who the hell Francine Hayden is…" Rory attempted to make it sound like she was joking but she failed miserably. The truth is she was here to do just that. She was here to learn who this woman was. She had a feeling that there was much more to Francine than met the eye. The key was to figure out how to peel away the layers to make said discovery.

Logan sensing she needed a kiss sweetly kissed her forehead and then grabbed her hand to hold it. "Okay well let's get on inside so we can get MISSION: FIGURE OUT WHO THE HELL FRANCINE HAYDEN IS underway."

Francine smiled as soon as they walked in. They were holding hands and Logan appeared to be making some sort of joke because Rory was smiling like he had just told her she had won the lottery. She gave him a kiss on the cheek. She mentally took a picture. No matter what happened she wanted to remember what the two of them looked like when they walked in a room the same way she remembered the way Christopher and Lorelai entered a room.

Rory took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her face as soon as she saw Francine sitting at the table. Unlike last night Rory actually had time to study this Francine. She seemed more tranquil. She walked across the room the way Emily had taught her to. She walked across the room as if she owned the place. When they finally reached the table she took another deep breath and plastered an even bigger smile on her face. "Sorry if we've kept you waiting. Grandmother this is Logan. Logan this is my Grandmother Francine Hayden."

Francine was surprised that Rory had called her Grandmother. She remembered the first time she met the young girl. She remembered feeling simply awful when the girl struggled to give her a title. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Don't worry about me waiting. I haven't been here but a few minutes. You two are actually on time. I'm early. I have a bad habit of always being early."

Logan laughed as he took his seat. "So does Rory. In her mind 12:00 means 11:45."

Francine smiled. She wondered if he granddaughter had inherited that trait from her. "Straub was always "fashionably" late for things. The man was nearly late for our wedding. He was impossible that way."

Rory could tell that she was still broken up about Straub's death. It had been more than a year since he died. She did the only thing she could think of. She gently placed her hand on Francine's.

Francine smiled and sighed. "Sorry I have a tendency to do that nowadays. The other widows in my pinochle group tell me that one day it'll stop happening. Anyway let's focus on something positive. How long have you two been together?"

Surprisingly Logan was the one who furnished Francine with an answer. "We're going on seven months." He never thought he'd been the type to keep track of the amount of time he spent with a girl. Then again he'd never been the type to commit either that is until he met Rory. Rory had changed everything.

Francine smiled. "You know I hope you don't mind when I say this but you two really do remind me a great deal of Lorelai and Christopher when they were together. This reminds me the other day I was going through a few old things that I had packed up when we made the move to St. Petersburg. I was looking for this picture of Straub and I that I was going to have made into a portrait and I found this picture. I thought you might appreciate. I realize Lorelai left a lot of her things behind when she made the move from Hartford to that quaint town you grew up in. I don't imagine she had many pictures of her and Christopher spread out and about." Francine pulled the picture out of her purse. She had found herself lost in the thought the moment she first saw the picture. She still remembered the days when she thought her son would marry Lorelai Gilmore. The days when she thought that all that mattered was pedigree and education. She had been a snob back then. She wondered why she had any friends at all back then.

Rory stared at the photograph for a moment. It resembled many of the ones that Christopher had given her when she had asked what her relationship with him was like when she was a child. "Where was this taken?"

Francine smiled as memories of that day came flooding back. "That was actually taken in Hartford for the Daughters of the American Revolution debutante ball program. I wasn't able to find the program just yet."

_Lorelai shifted uncomfortably in her dress. She had been wearing the puffy number for at least three and a half hours. She looked over at Christopher who was presently doing his French homework as they waited for it to be their turn. It seemed like it was taking forever. "How many more couples till it is our turn?"_

"_Two. Once Mallory Davis and Brendan Astin, and then Sharon Foreman and William Hasting take their pictures it will be our turn." Christopher then started conjugating the verb jouer. _

_You might as well have said there were a million. I wish that my last name was like Adams and not Gilmore." Lorelai sighed. She hated doing this. She felt like this was just another tool the man was using to try and keep her down. "What are we doing after this?"_

"_I don't know. Digger is home this weekend from Andover we could get together with him and Kerry." Christopher suggested. He was now focusing on reading some of the French literature he had been assigned. He hated French. He didn't know why he was even bothering to study this stuck up language._

"_Well I was thinking something more intimate. You know just the two of us. I love Digger and Kerry but we spent all last weekend with them. Quick question when is Digger actually not home on the weekend?" Lorelai posed the question and then noticed that one of her nails was looking a little dull so she pulled out her bottle of nail polish so she could touch them up real quick. _

"_I like the sound of doing something intimate. To answer that question I have no clue when Digger is actually no home from Andover during the weekend." Christopher paused to scribble down an answer about Monet. "Still uh we can go grab a bite to eat and then my parents are out of town this weekend so we could hang out at my house for a while."_

_Lorelai smiled. "Perfect. I love how good we are together."_

"_The other day I was walking past my father's study on my way to the kitchen and I overheard my parents discussing our relationship. They think this debutante ball is the first step to marriage. My parents love you. My father kept going on and on about how lucky I was to have a girl who accepted me no matter how immature I am." He once again paused to erase a mistake and then he continued. "I love you Lorelai. I really love you and I think that it would be great if maybe that did happen. I mean you know we did get married."_

_Lorelai opened her mouth to tell him that she too loved him and that marriage was a possibility that they would deal with when the proper time came but a white-haired old man interrupted and announced their name at that exact moment. "It's show time."_

_Christopher got up the way a proper gentleman would and then escord her to the back room. When the time came for them to pose he placed his arms around her the way he'd seen a million escorts hold a million debutantes. He smiled brightly as if he were the luckiest man alive. In a sense he was because he had Lorelai Gilmore as his girlfriend._

"_Hey Chris…" Lorelai whispered when the photographer turned around to fix the lighting. "I feel the exact same way."_

Rory and Logan stood up from the table after eating lunch, and desert. "Grandmother I'm so glad we did this. I'd love to get together. Maybe we could do something with my other Grandmother as well."

Francine smiled and kissed her granddaughter on the cheek. "That sounds positively lovely. Oh and Logan I hope you'll forgive me for the way I talked to your mother. I'm very glad to see that you are nothing like her. Do tell Emily that I say hello."

"I will definitely do that. I loved this." Rory was shocked. She never knew that Francine could be so interesting. Lorelai had made this woman out to be a monster the same way she made Emily out to be a monster. So far Rory had found that neither of them were monsters just picky. "Thank you for coming with me to do that. I know it couldn't have been the most fun way to spend a Saturday."

Logan smiled and shrugged. "Life always seems more fun as long as your there. She seems like a great woman, almost as great as you."

Rory scoffed. "You are too charming for your own good."

Logan looked at her. "You wouldn't love me nearly as much as you do if I weren't as charming as I am. I could charm the pants off of Janet Reno."

"That is nothing something I would brag about." Rory joked. "I think Bill O'Reilly could charm the pants her off."

Logan pretended to be wounded by her joke.

"Still that doesn't mean that I want you to charm her pants off. You're my little charmer." She gave him a kiss.

This was fun! The million attempts at writing this were not but this was! You know what would make it even more fun is if you shared your feelings on this story! Thanks for reading! Keep your eyes peeled for the next review!


	9. Anne Marie

Logan and Rory were sitting on her couch enjoying some Chinese takeout and each other's company when Finn burst through the front door of the pool house. He looked wilder than usual. "Logan, mate, we've got a situation."

"Finn, what in the world are you doing here? How did you even know I was here?" The last time Logan had seen Finn, his dear friend was passed out on the couch after a night spent with a feisty redhead named Sheryl.

Finn sat down on one of Rory's plush chairs. He pulled a small silver flask out of his jacket pocket. He took a quick swig before continuing. "Two words Anne Marie."

Logan froze.

Rory gave them both a confused look. "Who's Anne Marie?"

Finn took another swig from his flask before explaining. "Anne Marie is my fiancée."

"You have a fiancée? But you're a notorious womanizer."

Finn smiled. "I prefer to think of myself as an exotic ladies man love."

"Anne Marie is the female version of Finn. Their mothers were good friends back during their supermodel days. They both married rich American businessman. They both raised their kids to be American Australians. They think that Finn and Anne Marie are perfect for one another." Logan explained. Anne Marie and Finn were annoying together. Everything was either passion or a fight. The two of them had a knack for making you think that spousal abuse was about to take place. Logan thought Anne Marie was a nice girl, but she had a tendency to drive Finn crazy mostly because Finn drove her crazy. It was too dramatic for Logan's taste.

Rory wasn't sure what to say. She was shocked. She couldn't believe that Finn had a fiancée. She couldn't believe that someone would agree to marry a guy like Finn. She loved him but he was always either drunk or hitting on girls or both. She had only seen him go to class twice. Both times it was to flirt with a redhead that he had grown fond of. "So she knows that you cheat on her daily."

Finn scoffed. "She cheats on me hourly. We struggle to be around each other."

"Why is she coming to visit you?" Rory thought this seemed to be straight from a soap opera. Two people who didn't do commitment were forced to commit to each other.

Logan licked his lips and then shook his head. "Please don't tell me it's time for her to –"

"Buy a wedding dress and pick a venue. Yeah our mothers have decided since our wedding is to take place in six months we might as well start handling some details." Finn faked a laugh. He couldn't believe this was happening. "Her plane lands tomorrow."

Rory wasn't sure what to say. She had never seen Finn this frazzled before. Normally he seemed to be so drunk that nothing fazed him. The Aussie sitting in her living room was nothing like the Finn she knew and loved. "Have you talked to her yet today?"

Finn sighed and shook his head. "She left a message that said my plane lands at noon see you then."

Logan got up off the couch in search of his car keys. "I think we all need a drink after this revelation."

Lorelai was sitting on her couch reading a magazine and waiting for her nails to dry. Luke was out with April again. The two hardly spent time together between the Inn and Diner. She stopped when she came upon an article about St. Bernard's. It seemed there was going to be a movie made there. Christopher had gone to St. Mark's for a semester before being kicked out for something or other. That had been one of the longest semesters of her life. After Rory was born she joked to Christopher that she would send Headmaster Harrison a thank you card because Rory was conceived soon after Christopher came home. It had taken nearly a year before his parents decided to finally just send him to Chilton along with Lorelai. She picked up her home phone and started to dial his number. Finally she decided that instead she wanted to see him. She grabbed her car keys off of the kitchen counter and made the drive to Hartford.

Christopher was in middle of some paperwork when he heard the knock on the door. He had been surprised that someone was visiting this late. He looked at his watch briefly before opening the door. Part of him had expected to see Rory standing on the other side. He was shocked to see Lorelai standing there with a magazine in one hand and a bottle of tequila in the other. "Lore…"

"I uh read this article about St. Mark's and suddenly felt the need to see you." Lorelai admitted. Standing in front of him she felt a little stupid. She should have been at home waiting for Luke to return from his dinner with April. She shouldn't be here congregating with the man that Luke mistrusted more than anyone else. She held up the bottle of tequila.

"Come on in Lorelai. We'll have a couple of shots of grown up milk and cookies and we'll reminisce." Christopher opened the door wider for her to come in. He had a feeling that this had to do with the fact that she wasn't talking to Rory and things with Luke probably weren't as magical as they could have been. He knew it wasn't his place to pass judgment mostly because he stayed with Sherry when things were terrible.

Lorelai sat down on his couch. She looked like an uncomfortable little girl. "So where's Gigi?"

"Oh she goes to bed at eight. She has school first thing in the morning."

"I can't believe she goes to school." Lorelai remembered the day the little girl was born like it was yesterday. She looked a lot like Rory did when she was a baby.

Christopher smiled and ran a hand through his hair. "You're telling me. So you mentioned an article about St. Mark's."

"Yeah I was flipping through this magazine and I came upon this article about St. Mark's. It looks as though they are making a movie there about friends at boarding school. I think it'll even take place in the eighties."

"St. Mark's was so crazy. I mean it was a haven for overlooked bad behavior. I remember the guy who stayed down the hall would smoke pot everyday. He would sit by his window and toke for like two hours. Nobody ever said anything. Still I remember most is that weekend you drove up to see me. You told your parents you were going skiing with friends but instead you came and visited me. I remember how that night after visiting hours were over I climbed out of my window. Then we spent the night listening to the radio and making out until I had to go back before they did room checks in the morning." Christopher felt himself become sixteen again. The way all of his friends looked when Lorelai entered the room. The way it felt to hold her hand and listen to Jack and Diane.

Lorelai laughed. "I remember you basically fell out of your window and into those bushes and how you sort of limped your way to my car. It was so hard to drive through that back area. It had been so cold that night. You let me wear your sweater even though that left you in that thin white t-shirt."

"I would have given you anything you wanted. I still would." Christopher closed his eyes. He couldn't believe he had said that. He didn't mean to come on strong. It was the truth. It was the way he had always felt. Still Lorelai didn't need to know that.

She wasn't sure what to say. She nodded. She decided to pretend not to hear that last part. She hadn't been this happy in a long time.

Christopher sighed. "I know you're pretending not to hear that last part. Thank you for that. Still Lorelai I have to know why you're here instead of spending the evening with your fiancé. I just I can't pretend that I don't realize that you should be with him right now."

"It's complicated Chris."

Christopher shrugged. "Life is complicated Lore, but that doesn't mean you stop living. You told me you loved him and that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with him. I just I think that he should the shoulder you cry on when things get tough."

"How can you say that when we both know that you want my relationship to stall? How can you be so selfless?"

Christopher and gently wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He could tell she needed a hug. "It's not me being selfless it's me being a decent human being. I love you Lore. I always will but as long as you love him I realize that means things with us can't be. I also know that normally this would be Rory's job and that is exactly what she would tell you."

Lorelai sniffled a little. "How is she?"

"She's great. She's happy. She's madly in love. She's going back to school in January. She misses you. She bought you a present while she was in Monaco. She just wasn't sure how to give it to you."

"She went to Monaco?"

Chris nodded. "Logan gave her the trip to Monaco as a birthday present. They had so much fun. She loved it."

"I'm missing so much." Lorelai whispered.

"You don't have to. You can end this fight with a simple phone call." Christopher pointed out.

Lorelai shook her head. "I can't. I don't know what say or do. I'm not ready to apologize." She got up from the couch. "I better get back to Luke. I'll leave the tequila here just in case. Thank you for this Christopher. I needed to laugh and cry and ask about Rory."

Neither Finn nor Logan were in any shape to greet Anne Marie when she got off the plane. Both of them were dealing with headaches the size of the Soviet Union. Rory didn't know what Anne Marie looked like. She looked back at the two men who were dozing in one of the chairs in the baggage claim area and sighed. She didn't want to be handling this on her own. Still she admitted that they did look pretty cute sitting there looking lifeless. She was startled by the sudden appearance of a beautiful brunette who looked to be Finn's twin. She knew right away that this was Anne Marie. She walked towards the woman who was searching the area most likely for Finn. "Hi I know this may sound crazy but are you Anne Marie?"

Anne Marie looked at the girl and smiled. "You must be Logan's Sheila. Finn has told me all about you. Lemme guess its only noon and Finn's already off his face."

Rory laughed. "He's a bit hung over but nothing too serious. He's waiting for you over here."

Finn stood up the moment he saw Anne Marie. The last time he had seen her had been last summer when he was forced to propose to her. He smiled a little when he saw that she actually wore his ring. He wondered if she took it off when she went out on her little missions to pick up men. "Anne Marie, you old whanker how long have you known about this trip."

"Me a whanker, you're the one who's got on the wobbly boot in the arvo. Anyway you old pissant I found out early yesterday morning. Me mum called and told me I had to be here today. So here I am ready to buy a wedding dress and become someone's cook."

Rory looked at Logan for a translation.

Logan laughed and smiled. He gave her this look that said he didn't know what the hell they were saying and probably didn't want to know.

Finn sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I need me some amber fluid and I need it now."

"Oh stop pissing and get off your date and come with me to get my bags." Anne Marie demanded.

Rory watched them walk away for a second. They weren't done arguing yet. Anne Marie kept poking him in the chest as she spoke. "I've no clue what the hell they were saying. Are they always like that?"

Logan laughed. "Yeah unless they're drunk and then they're happy as two clams together. Still all that hatred is just for show. They really love one another. They're like an old couple. You know they fight all the time but it's just their way of talking to one another."

Rory nodded. She wasn't sure what to say. She had never seen a more dysfunctional couple.

"Don't worry we'll never seem that crazy. I promise."

Rory paused for a moment. Logan had never talked about them in that tense. He had never discussed them in the future. Okay well not in the distant of a future. She did the first thing she could think of and she kissed him softly on the lips. "Let's hope not…"

"At least I don't smell like a Technicolor yawn." Anne Marie shot back as they returned.

Finn shook his head. "Let's not have this blue in public please."

As the foursome left the airport Rory couldn't help but whisper to Logan. "Doesn't it weird you out how much alike they are."

"More than you could possibly imagine."

Okay so that was my update. I worked really hard on this. I started writing it so many times. I struggled to figure out where to go. I hope you liked it. I love your reviews. They absolutely make my day. Please share your thoughts.


	10. Paris' Crisis

Paris parked her car into the parking lot of the D.A.R. offices and rushed into the small brownstone. She didn't bother to acknowledge the petite brunette who was sitting at the front desk. She didn't have time to deal with Rory's secretary. She also didn't bother to knock before walking into Rory's office. Instead she sat down in the plush floral chair that was facing Rory's desk and sighed.

Rory was startled to say the least when Paris burst into her office. She had a feeling that Paris had probably startled Jeanine. She looked at her dear friend and frowned. She could tell that something was wrong. "What's the matter Paris?"

"What do you mean Gilmore? Am I not allowed to come to your workplace and visit with you for a bit on days when I don't have class?" Paris demanded. Something was wrong but for some reason she couldn't figure out how to word her present problem.

"Cut the bull Paris this isn't your style. What is the matter? You look upset. You never just show up here especially unannounced. Plus they should presently be debating about the stem cell research on C-SPAN. You never miss a debate on C-SPAN." Rory pointed out calmly. She was used to Paris being like this. Paris was a very angry person in high school.

"That is why they invented TIVO Gilmore." Paris tried to keep up this banter but she couldn't. "Jamie called."

Rory froze. She wasn't sure what to say.

Paris took her lack of a response as a sign to continue. "He left a message on my answering machine. He'll be in town next weekend. He thought maybe we could get together for lunch. He also said he was sorry to hear about Asher."

Rory nodded. Jamie was a sensitive topic when it came to Paris. He was her first love. He was the first guy who would have followed her to the end of the world and back if it meant that he would be with her or that he would make her smile. Rory had always liked Jamie. She'd felt bad for him when Paris chose Asher over him. She knew that Paris was now worried about his presence because of her blossoming relationship with Doyle. "Oh."

"Is that all you can say Gilmore? I come in here and pour my heart out to you and all you can say is oh?" Paris was now irate. She needed Rory to tell her what to do.

"Do you think you want to go eat lunch with him next weekend?"

Paris paused. Her heart was telling her yes. Her head on the other hand was telling her no don't even. She looked at Rory and sighed. "Yes I think I do, but what about Doyle?"

Rory completely understood what Paris was dealing with. Back in high school she had the same predicament. It was the only time she had ever been involved in a love triangle. "Paris if you want to have lunch with Jamie then all you can do is sit down with Doyle and explain the situation. The worst thing that is going to happen is he is going to tell you that he doesn't feel comfortable with it." Rory paused. "The real question is are you scared that Doyle is going to be mad about you eating lunch with Jamie or are you scared that things aren't over between you and Jamie?"

Paris felt as awkward as she did when she was in high school and things were just starting between her and Jamie. Gosh just when things had gotten normal he had to call her on the phone. She couldn't lie. She did miss him. "I've missed talking to you Rory."

Rory was a little surprised by the vulnerability of Paris' statement. She wasn't usually one to admit to having things like feelings. Being friends with Paris was often like being friends with someone who suffered from roid rage. "I'm sorry things have just been so crazy lately. Finn's fiancée is in town and I've been helping her look for a wedding dress. When I'm not doing that then I'm planning these events. Plus I've been handling my stuff so that I can go back to school next semester. And then there is Logan. I spend most of my night with him. Still I miss you too Paris. I miss your neurotic habits. I swear I heard you on C-SPAN the other morning. Maybe I'm crazy though."

Paris laughed. She looked down at her feet and sighed. "I'm scared to eat with Jamie because I'm scared that'll mean things aren't over. I don't want to burn Doyle. It's just Jamie was the first guy to make me feel like I was as beautiful as you or as charming as Louise." Paris stood up and started to pace. She picked up a picture of Logan and Rory from her twenty-first birthday party. She smiled. They were a cute couple.

"Then you should go to lunch with him Paris. I mean don't stick it out with Doyle just because your scared to try things again with Jamie." Rory spoke gently. If you had told her in high school that Paris would come to her when she had a problem Rory would have laughed at you right then and there. She often found it funny how close they had become in the years since they had left the hallowed halls of Chilton.

Paris looked at her and nodded. "I'll call you later this week and you can help me pick out an outfit. Okay?"

Rory smiled and nodded.

"I'll let you get back to work then. Thanks Rory." Paris said and then she left as abruptly as she came.

Rory sighed and put down her pen. She couldn't believe that had just happened. She looked at her watch and sighed. It was almost four and she had done everything she wanted to do. She got up from her desk and stretched a little. She then turned off her computer, grabbed her purse, and left. She stopped at her assistant's desk and smiled. "Don't worry about Paris. She's just Paris."

The young woman laughed. "Are you going home already?"

"Yeah I think we're done for the day." Rory waved goodbye and then made her way to her car. She smiled when she got closer and saw that someone had left a note on the windshield of her car. She grabbed it and opened it. _Ace, I picked up your dry cleaning for you. Finn, Anne Marie, Colin, and Stephanie are demanding that we meet them for dinner at Mulroney's tonight. I'll pick you up at the pool house at 7. Call me if you want me to cancel. Love you, Logan. _She smiled. She wondered why he hadn't come in. She figured he probably didn't want to disturb her while she was supposed to be working. She couldn't help but smile when she thought of. She parked her car into the back driveway by the pool house. She noticed that Francine's car was here. She smiled and decided that she would stop in and say hello.

Emily smiled and adamantly nodded her head. "Lorelai and Christopher were definitely the cutest couple at her debut. I mean she was at least three months pregnant at the time and had the most beautiful glow about her."

"Remember when that retched girl who had tried to steal Christopher from Lorelai tripped on her last stair and took her escort down with her." Francine couldn't help but laugh at the memory. This is what they did. They remembered what it was like when things were good and their children were still together.

Emily smiled when she saw Rory walk into the living room. "Rory, how lovely it is to see you."

Rory sat down on the couch and found it a bit awkward. She wasn't used to sitting there by herself. "I'm sorry to interrupt. You two seemed to be having a nice time before I came in."

Francine laughed. "Nonsense Rory we were just reminiscing about your mother and father. I found an old picture of them two of them from when they were like fourteen. It was from the first they were dating. See your mother was never a boarding school child but your father was so they had a tendency to get together, break up, get back together, and well break up again."

Rory found herself learning more and more about her parents as the days flew by. She was sure that her neither of her grandmothers had discussed their children this much in years.

"You should have seen those two back then. They were inseparable. Your mother and father would do things that would just make us so angry."

"Oh my gosh you mean like that time that they went to Christopher's Uncle Kinsey's funeral. They were standing there in these black t-shirts for some band I don't even remember. Kinsey had bought them the tickets for the show where they got them. Somehow they had snuck in this flask. It was raining and both of them just stood there without an umbrella. I remember thinking those two are going to have the world's surliest child." Francine paused to smile at Rory. "And then those two little hellions got lucky and they got you."

Rory felt herself begin to blush. "They were really that surly?"

Emily laughed. "You wouldn't believe the things they did. One time we were having a dinner party and your mother said she wanted to go upstairs to change her dress after she "accidentally" spilled some coffee on it. Then I hear your father's motorcycle pull up. She had gone upstairs to climb out her window so she could go out with him for the night."

Rory was listening to them talk rather intently when she realized that it was nearly six o'clock. "I'm sorry to have to run out on you but I have to go get ready. Logan and I have date tonight."

Emily and Francine both smiled as if on cue. "Oh it's fine. We know how busy pretty young things like you are. Just make sure and tell Logan that we both say hello." Francine loved Logan Huntzberger. He was the perfect socialite for her granddaughter. He was cocky but not in that way that made you want to knock him down a few notches. He also seemed to care very deeply for Rory which was a plus. Actually she couldn't remember an infatuation so deep since well Christopher and Lorelai of course.

Rory smiled. "I will."

Logan parked his car beside hers and smiled. He knew he was early. He just couldn't wait to see her. He missed her lips. He missed her smile. He missed her touch. Colin kept telling him that his new love routine was making him nauseous. He grabbed her clothes out of the backseat and didn't bother to knock on the door. He smiled when he heard her shower running. He placed the clothes on her bed and then made his way into the steamy room. "Hey Ace…"

Rory smiled. She peeked out from behind the shower curtain. "Logan we have a problem."

Even though Rory was smiling Logan couldn't help but feel nervous. "What? Did something happen today?"

Rory grinned. She loved it when he worried about her. It was so cute. He would get this little wrinkle in his forehead. "Well it's just I haven't gotten my hello kiss."

Logan smirked. "Oh well we do have a major problem then." Logan said as he walked over and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

She sighed. She loved kissing him. It was weird. Kissing Jess had been great. Kissing Dean had been sweet. Kissing Tristan had been surprisingly nice. Still kissing Logan was like watching Casablanca for the first time it was just so satisfying. She would rather go a month without reading than a week without kissing him. "So how was school today?"

"It was really good actually. Anne Marie stopped by and she was the mastermind for this whole dinner tonight. She loves you by the way. Anyway I bumped into Paris and she seemed kind of upset."

Rory sighed when she remembered how upset Paris had been earlier today. Still she was happy to see her best friend even though it was under such crazy circumstances. "Yeah uh she came to see me today at work. She was just a little frazzled because an ex-boyfriend called to see if she wanted to go to lunch next weekend."

"Paris has had boyfriends other than Asher and Doyle?" He couldn't hide his surprise at that detail.

Rory laughed. Oh how little most people knew about Paris pre-Yale. "Yeah actually one boyfriend Jamie Davis I think. He was going to Princeton and was a couple of years older. He really loved Paris. You think she is neurotic now you should have seen her when it came to him. I'm telling you she was crazier than Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam."

Logan laughed. He tried to place the name. "Davis doesn't sound very Jewish."

"It's not which is just even more proof of how much she cared for him."

Logan was silent for a moment. He didn't have anyone like that in his past. He was sure that if by some fluke he and Rory didn't last that one day she would be the same for him as Jamie is for Paris, a first love and a romantic memory. Still he didn't like to think of life without Rory. He knew that he wasn't her first love. "So uh do you have any guys like that in your closet?"

"What do you mean?" Rory didn't know whether or not she wanted to have this conversation with Logan. She knew she was the one with past relationships not him. She had relationships while he had flings.

"Well I mean who was your first love? Is there any guy in your past that if he marched back in he would be able to make you swoon even just the slightest bit?"

"Dean was my first love and I could never be with him again because I'd always remember the third time we tried to make it work. I don't think there is anyone else out there for me other than you right now." She said as she slowly got out of the shower. As soon as she saw his face she knew he was relieved by her answer. She grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her chest. Sometimes she still felt weird about being naked in front of him.

Logan smirked. "Good answer Ace."

"Well you know I've never had a problem with knowing the right answer." She joked. She walked over to him and looked deep into his eyes before leaning down and kissing him on the lips. "If you must know I've never loved kissing anyone as much as I love kissing you."

Okay so that was the update. I don't know where I'm going with this. No clue. I think Rory and Lorelai are going to make up soon. Lorelai and Luke are going to break up soon. Anne Marie and Finn are going to keep things interesting. Jamie and Paris are going to have lunch. Rory and Logan are going to keep getting more serious. A certain bad boy will show up. Francine and Emily will try to reunite their children. The list goes on and on. I hope you liked this chapter. I tried to have a little bit of everything. I just wanted a scene between Rory and Paris. I love Jamie to pieces so I wanted him to come back on the scene. Please **review**…Please…Oh and if there is anything you want to see let me know…I can see if it'll fit into my storyline…Thanks again for reading and of course **REVIEW**!


	11. Garden State My Ass

He walked into Luke's Diner wearing the same old denim jacket he always sported. He went behind the counter and poured himself a cup of coffee even though he knew it would drive Luke crazy. He was actually pouring the cup when Luke returned to the front of the diner only to see him standing.

"What the hell are you – Jess?" Luke was stunned. It had been a long time since the last time he has seen nephew.

Jess turned around and smiled. "Hey just pouring myself a cup of coffee." He then made his way back to the front of the counter and sat down.

"What are you doing here in Stars Hollow?" Luke asked slowly. He had a feeling Jess was on a mission. He also had a sinking feeling that mission involved Rory.

Jess sipped his coffee before answering his uncle's question. "Right now I'm sitting here talking to you and drinking coffee."

Luke now knew that Jess was definitely here on a mission that involved Rory. "She's not here you know."

"Who isn't here? Are we referring to Rory, Lorelai, Miss Patty, or even my mother? Because I can see that none of them are here right now in the diner." Jess hated when Luke saw through the fronts that he put up.

"Jess just knock it off. I know why you're here. I know you're looking for Rory." Luke wasn't in the mood for games. Then again Luke wasn't in the mood for anything. Things with Lorelai had become very tense. He found himself having to choose between spending time with her and spending time with April. Normally Luke found himself choosing April. "She's not here in Stars Hollow."

"Where is she? Is she at school?" Jess was surprised. Rory always was home for the weekend. She couldn't make it very long without seeing her mother.

Luke shook his head. "No she's taking some time off from school right now. She's living in Hartford in her grandparent's pool house."

"Why would she be living in Hartford with her grandparents when she was taking time off from school? Why isn't she just living with you and Lorelai?" Jess was finding it hard to process all of this new information.

"Lorelai and Rory had a bit of a falling out this past summer. Rory wanted to take time off from school. Lorelai didn't want that to happen. Lorelai refused to support Rory's decision so Rory isn't speaking to her right now." Luke was getting pretty damn tired of this fight. It was taking a toll on their relationship to. Now Lorelai was not only mad because Luke was always spending time with April but also because she was now always alone.

Jess was flabbergasted to say the least. In the entire time he and Rory dated or even the entire time he and Rory flirted things with her mother had never gotten so bad that they couldn't make up within the next few days. "Do you know if Rory is uh well you know?"

Luke smiled a bit. Jess had only ever been nervous when it came to Rory. He could give two shits about the rest of the world. Still he never wanted to let Rory down or make her ashamed of him. In the end though he failed and he did let her down. He let her down in a big way. Still it was hard for him to have to tell his nephew that yes she was seeing someone and they had been together for quite a while. "Yeah uh but Lorelai hates him. His name is Logan or Lance or Landon. Something like that. Anyway he goes to Yale. He's just some rich white kid. I bet he's an ass."

"I never imagined Rory would actually date someone that her grandparents approved of." Jess admitted quietly.

"Neither did I. Things have changed a lot though. Still if you want to find her she lives with her grandparents in Hartford."

Jess finished his coffee and then stood up. "Well then I guess I'll go. Oh and congratulations on April. It's not everyday you find out that you have a preteen daughter." Jess said with a smile and then just as suddenly as he came he was gone.

"Did I ever tell you that Finn was briefly a male model?" Anne Marie slurred. She looked over at Finn who was so inebriated he didn't know he was supposed to be embarrassed.

Finn tried to stop her from telling the god awful story but he couldn't. His reflexes were too slow. He was pretty sure it was Jose Cuervo's fault.

Anne Marie smiled and nodded. "See my mother knew this woman who was doing this show in Australia. It was for her new line. Anyhow she convinced my mother to get me and Finn to do this ad for it. Little did we know though that her new line was this like hip hop experiment. So there is actually a bloody roll of film with us wearing these horrible Compton wannabe outfits. That was the first and last time either of us experimented with following in our mother's footsteps."

"How much would one have to pay to get their hands on this roll of film?" Logan asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Anne Marie shrugged. "No more than it would cost for you to become Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony's next door neighbors."

Finn squirmed in his seat. He didn't like where this was going. "You wouldn't really buy that film would you mate?"

Logan couldn't say no. It was too easy. It was too perfect. "I won't make any promises Finn. Still you know this photographer's name Anne Marie?"

Anne Marie tried to think but found it too hard. Everything was fuzzy. Was it Tawny Delaney? No, no that was her mother. "I really don't recall his name right now Logan. Sorry love."

Rory couldn't help but have fun when she was with them. She saw Finn start to pour himself another glass of tequila so she decided to stop him. She grabbed the bottle from him. "I'm cutting you off Finn."

"Good idea Ror I think he's just a wee bit toasted. I myself could use another drink though." Anne Marie tried to lift her arm but couldn't get her brain to tell her arm to move. Instead she decided to just lay down for a bit.

"Anne Marie, are you okay?" Stephanie asked slowly.

Anne Marie didn't bother trying to lift her head. Instead she decided to just mumble softly, "Yep, I'm just resting my brain. I'll be up and drinking in no time."

Colin laughed. "You do realize that the two of them basically drank half of that bottle by themselves. This should teach us to never challenge an Aussie to a drinking contest."

"They're going to be an interesting couple. You think they'll be drunk for most of their marriage?" Stephanie asked softly. She couldn't help but smile at the fact that they are both sitting or rather laying there with their heads on the table.

Logan laughed. "They are going to need Super Nanny to live with them until every last one of their children go to college."

"I can just picture Jo standing over them saying in her thick English accent "You've been very naughty..." as she shook her finger at them." Rory said as she laughed. She loved that show. It was way better than Nanny 911.

Colin sighed. "I guess it's our job to take them home isn't it?"

Logan nodded and stood up from the table. He pulled his wallet out and motioned for Rory to go pay the tab for him. He gave her his black card. He smiled when she didn't hesitate taking it from him. It was taking her a while to get used to not feeling like a gold digger when she used it. "They're not going to be able to walk out. Are they?"

Colin laughed and shook his head. "We'll never get that lucky. Unless well hold on." Colin stopped talking for a moment and then suddenly exclaimed, "Is that redhead over there stripping?"

Finn suddenly was sober enough to stand up and look around the room. "Where mate? Where is the stripping redhead?"

Stephanie started to laugh. It not got old. Finn always fell for the stripping redhead trick. "She left the building I think she went out into the parking lot."

Finn nodded furiously and then pulled Anne Marie up out of her seat. Even though she protested that she didn't need to go home. She could sleep there for the rest of the night? He basically carried her out the door and into the parking lot with his friends close on his heels.

Rory hadn't heard the bit about the redhead so she was rather curious as to how they got Finn to get up. She leaned into Logan and whispered softly, "What did you do?"

"Finn thinks there is a redhead stripping in the parking lot." Logan told her and then he flashed her his trademark smirk. "He falls for it every time."

Rory rolled her eyes. Sometimes Finn was so gullible. Still she had to admit it was a hilarious and evil trick. Finn was a sucker for a redhead. "I had fun tonight. I love going out with you guys."

"Want to know a secret?" Logan asked his eyes were filled with desire.

"What?" Rory asked rather seductively. She was getting the hang of this flirting thing.

Logan smirked. "I love doing anything as long as you are there. I would get a Brazilian wax as long as you were there to hold my hand."

Rory smiled and bit her lip. "Ditto."

"I think we just had a Ghost moment. Clue the lights that signal my ascent into heaven." Logan joked.

Doyle walked into his apartment with Paris only to find Paris sitting on the couch staring at the phone. He noticed that the television was on and figured she was watching C-SPAN. He was surprised though to see that on the television was actually a movie. "What movie is this?"

Paris looked up startled. She hadn't realized how long she had been watching this movie. She sighed and turned it off. She decided she would just go ahead and tell him. She would just lay it all out for him. "Well Doyle it's a video of Christmas a couple of years ago."

"But Paris you're Jewish." Doyle was utterly confused. Why would Paris have celebrated Christmas?

Paris sighed. This was going to be harder than she had originally planned. "But my boyfriend at the time Jamie wasn't. I celebrated Christmas with his family."

"Oh." That was all Doyle could manage. He hadn't known that Paris had dated someone before Asher.

Paris took a deep breath. She just had to tell him. She couldn't put this off any longer. "Doyle, uh, Jamie called me earlier today. He left a message on the machine. Anyway he is going to be in town next weekend and he wanted to know whether or not I would have lunch with him."

Doyle wasn't sure he liked this. Paris was nervous about this. Paris was never nervous. It didn't suit her. She was like a pitbull. "Have you decided whether or not you were going to go?"

"I've thought about this a lot. I've decided to say yes. Things with Jamie ended badly and I'd like to patch things up if at all possible." Paris explained. She watched his face. He didn't seem to like the idea but he did accept it. "Okay?"

"Okay. I have to accept your decision so okay." Doyle said and then he let out a soft sigh. "I'm going to go take a shower and then work on one of my papers."

Paris watched him leave. He was upset. That much she knew. Still she had to do this. She missed Jamie. She wondered if he missed her. She had a feeling that if she didn't go she would regret it for the rest of her life. She took a deep breath and then called his number.

"Hello?"

"Hi Jamie, it's Paris." The words came out a bit more awkward than she would have liked but she knew it was a good start. Rory always told her to start small.

Jamie was a bit surprised at how nervous Paris sounded. "It's been a long time Paris."

"Yeah it has." She agreed. "So how are you?"

"Good. Law school has kept me busy. What about you? Is Yale as good as Harvard?" He knew she had always planned on attending the holy grail of Ivy League schools. He remembered how devastated she was when she found out that she hadn't been accepted.

Paris couldn't help but laugh. She had been so convinced that Yale would never be as good as Harvard. She couldn't have been more wrong. "The shopping is nowhere near as good as it is in Cambridge. But then again I've never been one to shop much. Yale is good. Yale is really good. I live in New Haven with my boyfriend Doyle. I'm convinced they have better real estate in Cambridge but I can deal."

"Well I'm happy for you. I still don't understand why you couldn't come to Princeton." Jamie joked. Paris would never do well at Princeton or Brown. They were too laid back compared to Yale and Harvard. He didn't say anything about her boyfriend. He wasn't surprised. Still he wasn't sure what to say about this Doyle character.

Paris sniggered. "Well anyway you were probably studying when I called so I'll just get to the point. First you know I'd never have lasted in New Jersey, Garden State my ass. It would be the garden state if people planted dead bodies. Second I'm calling to accept your invitation to lunch next weekend."

Jamie couldn't help but feel like dancing. He was afraid that this Doyle character would keep her from going to lunch with him. "Okay well I'll meet you in front of your old dormitory next weekend. Okay?"

"Okay." Paris agreed. They chatted a bit longer before they finally got off the phone. She found out that he was actually going to Boston University for is law degree. She wondered why he had gone there instead of Harvard. She supposed she would find out at lunch next weekend. She decided that she would call Rory first thing in the afternoon to let her know how things went. She knew Rory was still not a morning person. She never would be. Rory would be so proud of her.

Logan parked his car beside Rory's gas conscious car. He reached into the backseat and grabbed the food they had picked up on their way home. Rory had decided they were in desperate need of a midnight snack.

Rory got out of the car and made her way to the door. She searched through her new Coach bag for her house keys. She was so deep in searching it wasn't until she almost bumped into him that she realized someone was sitting on her front step. She froze. She couldn't believe her eyes. "What are you doing here Jess?"

Logan walked up to find Rory in a state of shock. That's when he noticed the guy sitting in front of her door. From the look on Rory's face she knew him. "Are you okay Rory?"

"Yeah uh just wondering what this visit is all about? Logan this is an old friend from Stars Hollow Jess. Jess this is my boyfriend Logan." Rory introduced them. She hadn't seen Jess in so long. She hadn't even thought about him in months. She didn't understand how he could just sit there all calm in that same denim jacket he always wore.

Jess stood up and walked towards the pair. He seemed to have interrupted their plans. He shook Logan's hand. "I just stopped by to catch up."

Rory didn't say anything she just stared at him. She didn't understand why he always had to show up when things were going good. She wasn't going to let him ruin this. She wasn't going to let him make Logan feel insecure about their relationship.

That was the update! I hope you liked it! Thanks for reading! Review! I love them!


	12. Are You Okay?

So all I have to do to get a bunch of reviews is make you think that Jess is going to come in and steal Rory. Good to know. Don't worry this is a Rogan. I prefer Rory with rich white kids. No offense to Stars Hollow. Chris will be back soon. Jamie and Paris are probably getting back together. I'm going to stop now. I can't let you know where I'm going with this. Thanks for reading and reviewing the last chapter. I loved every last review. They made me smile and laugh. They made me feel terribly evil for making you worry. Still my favorite has to be mochaddicted79 because I too often find him blind and ignorant. So thank you so much. I decided to reward all of my reviewers by updating the first chance I got.

She could barely hear Logan inviting Jess into the pool house. She could barely feel Logan's warm embrace as he guided her inside. All she could think was what was he doing here now. She had missed him and wanted him to be there so badly for so long in the days after Dean but before Logan. Still he didn't show up. Jess never showed up when he was needed most. Now for the first time since then things were good, really good. She was in love with a guy who loved her back and wasn't married and didn't mind making plans. She had a father who was devoted to her. She had a relationship with both of her grandmothers. All she needed now was her mother to apologize for turning her back on her. She needed her mother not Jess. She looked up and saw Logan watching her with a worried look on his face. He mouthed the words are you okay? She nodded a little and then made her way into her room to change.

Logan watched Rory slowly make her way to the bedroom as set the takeout onto the dining room table and made his way into the kitchen. He poured Rory a cup of coffee with a splash of Wild Turkey. He had a feeling she would need it to calm her nerves. He started to only pull down two plates but then remembered that they had an unexpected guest. "Uh Jess you want something to eat?"

Jess looked at Logan wish disdain. He didn't like guys like him. He never would. They were worse than the Deans of the world. They were cocky assholes. He had a feeling it wouldn't take much to push his buttons. Yep, that's what he would do. He would push Logan's buttons and force him to be the one to make an ass out of himself. That was how he ruined things between Rory and Dean. He just made Dean make an out of himself. Rory would come running to him as soon as she saw his true dickhead colors shining through. "Yeah that would be great. Thanks."

Rory walked into her bedroom and took off her jewelry. She put her heels in the closet and then made her way back into the living room. She saw him sitting on the couch looking at her home with a lackluster smile on his face. She sighed. She didn't know how to deal with him. She frowned a bit and then made her way into the kitchen with Logan. She needed to make sure he was okay with this. "Hey." She said after kissing him slowly on the lips. It was their soft kisses that she found the most sensual.

"Hi," Logan said softly. He smirked at him. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Rory bit her lip and nodded. She let out a ragged breath and sort of shrugged. "I just wasn't expecting him to show up here tonight. Are you okay?"

Logan smirked again. "Of course I'm okay. I trust you and I know that you love me as much as I love you."

"That I do." Rory started to kiss him again but heard someone softly clear their throat. She pulled back and turned around to see Jess standing there. She fixed her lip gloss and then smiled. "Sorry. Let's eat shall we?"

Jess nodded and backed out of the kitchen. He shook his head a little trying to erase the scene he had just witnessed. No one was supposed to kiss Rory like that except him. He made a point to slightly touch her with his hand when he was reaching for the okra.

Logan took a bite of the cornbread and sighed. He loved cornbread. He loved cornbread almost as much as he loved Rory. Once he was done savoring his cornbread he noticed that the table was silent. Jess was staring at Rory but Rory was staring at her plate. Logan reached over and gently grabbed Rory's hand. He gave her a reassuring smile. "So Jess what brings you to Hartford?"

"I just felt like leaving Philly for a little while." Jess explained. The truth is he needed to see Rory. The moment his book was published he hopped in his car and went to see her. He wanted her to see he could make something of himself. He hadn't been expecting her to be with this guy though. She thought Rory would never fall for guys like Logan. The kind of guys who had more going for them in the money and looks department than they did in the personality and intelligence.

Logan nodded. He waited for someone else to say something. This meal was more intense and awkward than most of his families meals together. It was even more awkward than the first one that Honor brought Josh to. He smirked a bit at the memory. He thought is grandfather was going to keel over right then and there. At the time Josh's hair had been shaggy and he looked more like an activist than a Yale law student. "So Rory did you talk to Josh's friend about renting one of the yachts for the evening?" Logan had been meaning to ask her about it for a while but always forgot the moment their lips touched.

"Yeah I did. He even cut me a deal. Its going to cost the D.A.R. half as much as I originally planned which means we now have more money to spend on the debutante ball." Rory had perked up at the topic because she had been so proud of how she handled the negotiations.

Logan smirked and then kissed her softly. "Congratulations. I know you were worried that the yacht would set you over."

"So you plan events for some organization called the "D.A.R." as a job?" Jess asked slowly. He couldn't imagine Rory doing a job like that. She was too smart for a job like that.

Rory stopped smiling at Logan and looked at Jess. "Yeah I plan events for the Daughters of the American Revolution."

Logan looked at his watch and yawned. He was tired. "I'm going to go ahead and go to bed because I have a lecture first thing in the morning about how the Internet is not only enabling but disabling the news." Logan said as he kissed her gently. He turned to Jess who was staring at him in an angry manner. "It was nice meeting you Jess."

"That sounds like one exciting lecture. I'm sure Mitchum would love it." Rory joked. "Good night Master and Commander."

There was this twinkle in Logan's eye when Rory said Master and Commander that just made Jess want to kick Logan's ass right here right now. He clenched his teeth and pretended to be oblivious though. He smiled instead of saying goodnight to Logan. He watched Rory as she watched Logan leave.

Rory sighed when Logan shut the door to her bedroom and then she looked back at Jess. "So how did you know I was here?"

"Luke told me. He also told me that you and your mom are fighting over that jackass."

Rory gritted her teeth. "That's like the pot calling the kettle black don't you think Jess."

Jess was surprised to say the least by this new "I don't take your shit" Rory. "Rory I didn't come here to fight."

"Then why did you come here?" She asked softly. The icy bite had now left her voice.

Jess reached into his jacket and pulled out the small novel he had created. He handed it to her and watched as she read the cover.

Rory read each word and was surprised to see that it had been written by Jess himself. She looked up. She wasn't sure what to say. She couldn't believe Jess had actually accomplished something. "You wrote this?"

"Yeah I did."

Rory smiled and nodded. "Congratulations on getting it published. I'm sure it's just one of many more to come."

Jess smiled and reached forward to gently grab her hand. He frowned though when she pulled away. "What's wrong? I mean Rory you can't say you don't miss us. I miss you. I'm not over you."

"Yeah but see that is the thing you never understood. The relationship wasn't just about you. It takes two people to have a relationship. It was about both of us." Rory explained. She should have known he was coming to try to rekindle something that had died a long time ago. She looked at the door to the room where Logan was sleeping. "I don't miss you. A year ago yeah I missed you, but not now."

Jess didn't like where this was going. He was sure that he would come to her in this damn denim jacket with that book and she would swoon and they would get back together. He was sure that she would want to return to what they used to be. He was the love of her life right? Shouldn't she want to be with him? "He's worse than Dean."

Rory took a deep breath trying to control her anger. She didn't like the way he was talking about Logan. He had no right to judge. He had no right to act like he was the better man. "You know I never understood why my mother liked Dean more than you. I always thought she was just passing judgment too quickly. I always thought she just didn't see you in the same light as I did." She paused. "Now I get it though. You don't see your own damn faults Jess. You're quick to point out everyone else's but you don't see your own."

Jess didn't say anything. He just stared at her. There was no emotion in his eyes. He was just sitting there like he was made of stone.

"What you don't have anything to say?" Rory asked her voice was as cold as Antarctica.

"Dean was an ass. He was a dumb jock. He didn't deserve you." Jess stood up and pointed to the door to her bedroom. "That guy in there is just some spoiled rich kid who got into Yale because of his last name. He drives a fancy car to tell people that he isn't aching in the finance department. He is everything you hated when you were at Chilton."

Rory shook her head. She no longer could control her anger. "Jess did you ever think that maybe it doesn't matter how smart you are as long as you are a nice person. Dean cared about me in a way you never did. You were moody. You never made plans. You treated me like an afterthought. We never did things with other couples mostly because you hated everybody. You were the worst boyfriend I've ever had." She willed herself not to cry. She looked at him. She looked into his eyes to see if he felt bad and if he believed the things she was saying. She couldn't believe that the answer was probably no. "He drives from New Haven to Hartford almost everyday to see me. He would fly to Jamaica to get me coffee if I asked him to. He calls me. He cares about what I'm thinking. We have couple friends. We do things with other people. We make plans. I love him. He loves me. We have a lot in common even though you don't like it. My family has money. My mother acts like she doesn't but she's an heiress. She's a Gilmore. I'm a Gilmore Hayden. I am not what you all make me out to be. I am also not the same girl who felt bad when everybody hated you for crashing my car. I'm twenty one years old and I can stand on my own two feet."

Jess shook his head. "You're the love of my life Rory."

"Too bad you never treated me like it when you had me. I've moved on. He's the love of my life. He's the one who I would give up coffee for." Rory told him quietly. "I think you should leave now Jess. I've got errands to run first thing in the morning and I can't stay up all night."

"Tell me that you don't love me. If you can tell me that you don't love me anymore than I'll leave. I'll go back to Philly as suddenly as I came."

Rory looked him in the eye. She cleared her throat a little. "I don't love you anymore."

"He's one lucky asshole." Jess said with his eyes closed. He then made his way out the door and into the night. He did just as he told her. He left as suddenly as he came.

Rory smiled a little as she watched him go. He was a chapter of her life she wouldn't have to deal with anymore. She quietly crept into her bedroom and found Logan lying on his side of the bed. She loved the way he looked when he was sleeping. She slipped out of her dress and into his shirt. She then quietly crawled into bed next to him. She smiled as he readjusted himself so that she was in his arms.

"Are you still okay?" Logan asked quietly.

Rory smiled into his chest. She softly kissed his chest. "Yeah I am. I'm actually better."

"Thank you for sticking up for me. I do remember you having the same opinion of me when we first met." Logan joked.

"Yeah but I'm not an asshole so for me to think you were an asshole was totally valid. Jess is an asshole so for him it was like so hypocritical. I love you Logan. I really do."

Logan kissed her softly on the forehead. "Good because I love you too and I would totally have to kick a brother's ass if he tried to come between us."

Rory laughed. They both laid there just smiling and enjoying the feeling of being in each other's arms until finally they both fell asleep.

That was the update! That was the chapter that relieved a lot of you I think! I needed some drama! I wanted Rory to have an emotional scene! Thank you for reading! Review please! There is going to be more drama in the next chapter! I really hope you liked it.


	13. Ms Gilmore or Ms Hayden?

1Rory was busying looking over a contract when she heard her cell phone start to ring. She reached into the new purse that Logan had purchased her and struggled to find it. Finally she retrieved the noisy device and quickly answered it. "Hello?"

"Uh Ms. Gilmore or Ms. Hayden I'm not really sure which last name you go by but this is Monica, Gigi's nanny. I was calling because I sort of have a dilemma." The young woman whispered into the phone.

Rory was confused. Why in the world would Gigi's nanny be calling her instead of her father? Still whatever was going on seemed to be important because of the way the woman was talking. "Okay. What's your dilemma?"

"Well first I just wanted to let you know that I tried your father on his cell phone a couple of times only to realize that he left it at home. I called his office and his secretary informed me that he was doing business in Providence until four. That's why I called you. I couldn't think of anyone else." Monica paused to take a deep breath. Then she continued. "See the thing is Gigi's mother is sitting in the living room right now."

"What?" Rory asked in disbelief.

Monica was happy she wasn't the only one completely frazzled by this situation. "She showed up here an hour after Mr. Hayden went to work. I was just about to take Gigi out shopping for a dress for the dinner party your grandmothers are throwing this evening. Anyway I answered the front door and there she was with this teddy bear. I didn't know what to do so I let her in. Is it okay that I let her in?"

"I think so considering she is Gigi's mother. So you haven't been able to inform my father yet. Well then let me just finish a few things here at work and then I'll be there in an hour at the most." Rory told the woman. She wasn't sure how to handle this situation. She had never been one for confrontation but she certainly wasn't going to let Sherry go in there and completely frazzle Monica.

Monica let out a breath of relief. She hadn't even realized she had been holding her breath. "Thank you Ms. Gilmore er or Ms. Hayden."

Rory laughed. "It's Rory Monica."

"Okay well thank you Rory I'll see you soon." Monica said and then promptly hung up the phone.

Rory sat there for a minute just letting everything sink in. She picked up her office phone and stared to dial a familiar number and then she suddenly stopped. She didn't need her mother to help her handle this. It was just like she told Jess. She could stand on her own two feet. She finished up her work and then quickly left the office. She told her assistant to reschedule her appointments because a family emergency had come up. She then hopped into her car prepared to speed away when she realized that Logan was sitting in the car next to her. She rolled down her passenger window and gave him an amused look. "What are you doing here?"

"Professor Grigori threw up in the middle of class so we got out early. I wanted to know if you wanted to join me for lunch." Logan explained. "Something tells me though that you aren't up for lunch." He said slowly in response to the weary look on her face.

Rory rolled up her window and cut the ignition. She then got out of her car, locked it and got into Logan's. "I wish the lunch was on my mind right now."

"What happened?" Logan asked uneasily.

"Monica, my father's nanny called. It appears my almost stepmother Sherry is in town and is presently sitting in my father's living room with Gigi."

"And your father?"

Rory grinned as if she actually found the situation amusing. "Is in a meeting in Providence and left his cell phone at home. I'm the only other person she could think of to deal with this. Which means we better go ahead and head over there because I told her I would be there in an hour."

"You are going to be the one to handle this situation?" Logan asked a bit unsure as he backed out and started the fifteen minute drive towards Rory's father's house. Rory usually shied away from the situations that had a good chance of being uncomfortable.

"I know I can't believe it myself." Rory said with a small smile and a shrug. She kissed him softly on the cheek. "That is why it is so good that you are going to be there with me."

Sherry was sitting on the couch fussing with Gigi when she heard the front door open. She turned around and was surprised to see Rory standing there with a tall handsome blonde young man. She wasn't sure what to say. She smiled albeit uneasily.

Rory saw Monica mouth thank you and smiled in return as if she wasn't a stranger to handling situations like this. She noticed that Sherry had smiled at her but she couldn't bring herself to smile back. Instead she sat down on the couch in the exact same spot she had been sitting in the night she came to see her father and reconciled with him. "Hi Sherry. Long time no see."

Sherry didn't miss the coldness of Rory's tone. She was sure she would have felt she same way if she were talking to the woman who had not only ditched her father but had also ditched her baby sister in the process. "Hi Rory and Rory's friend."

"This is my boyfriend Logan Huntzberger. Logan this is Sherry, Gigi's mother."

Sherry's face lit up at Logan's last name. "Huntzberger? As in Mitchum Huntzberger?"

Logan nodded. He wasn't sure whether or not he was supposed to actually talk to Sherry. He had a feeling he was just supposed to sit her and make sure that Rory didn't do anything completely stupid like throw a vase at Sherry's head perhaps. He felt Rory tense up so he reassuringly squeezed her hand to let her know that he would be here for her.

"So was the job in Paris worth it?" Rory asked before she could even stop the words from leaving her mouth.

Sherry felt like she had just been slapped across the face as soon as Rory's words hit her ears. She never in a million years would have thought Rory could be so bitchy. Then again she had never considered this situation before. "It was a good job but I did miss Gigi and your father."

Rory raised her eyebrows at the last part. "Yeah well my father could have used the help."

"He had you and Lorelai. He didn't need me."

"Yeah but Gigi needed her mother to be there when she woke up in the middle of the night from a bad dream. Gigi needed her mother to be there when she said her first word or when she took her first step." Rory countered. "I guess that didn't matter much to you though. I guess your needs were more important."

Sherry opened her mouth to try and deflect Rory's harsh words but nothing came out. She couldn't find what it took to make a case against what Rory was accusing her of. "This is a discussion I feel I should have with your father."

Rory nodded. She didn't like the way Sherry was holding Gigi. She stood up and took the young girl from Sherry. "Well while you think about what you are going to say to him when he asks you the same question and accuses you of the same things Logan and I are going to take Gigi out dress shopping. We are all attending a dinner party tonight."

"That isn't fair Rory. I never get to see Gigi. I don't think you have the power to just take her from me."

Logan was the one to say something this time. He had listened to the way Sherry had tried to make herself seem like less of a bad mother. The truth was the woman was a bad mother. She had chosen a career over her only daughter. She had left the man she supposedly loved and the daughter she supposedly missed to be in Paris handling negotiations for some cosmetic company. "I think it's more than fair. You walked out on Gigi. Now Gigi is going to walk out on you with a little help from Rory."

"You also are a little flaky when it comes to watching over Gigi. What if a job opportunity comes up while your spending time with her. You could just leave her here all by herself and be on the first flight out of her towards a new life."Rory added in a snarky tone. Rory had never been this mean to anyone in her entire life. There were moments when she could have been but she wasn't. Surprisingly enough she didn't regret what she was saying. Instead she felt her anger was completely justified. Women didn't just leave their children because they wanted to advance their career.

Sherry knew there was no point in fighting with them. She watched as they gathered up a few things and then headed out the door towards Logan's car. She felt a pang of guilt as she watched Logan put the car seat in the back. She was supposed to do things like that. A Yale playboy was being more responsible when it came to her daughter than she had ever been. She watched as they pulled out of the drive and headed towards downtown Hartford. She sighed and sat back down on the couch. She waited silently for Christopher to come home from work. She looked up to see the nanny staring at her. "What?"

Monica flinched slightly. "They're only trying to do what is best for Gigi. They really love that little girl. They spend a lot of time with her. Rory even takes Gigi for the night when Mr. Hayden has to go out of town."

Sherry nodded and then pulled some paperwork out of her bag. She figured it wouldn't hurt to finish some work while she waited for Christopher to tear her a new one.

"You really chewed her out Rory. I don't think I have ever seen you so Paris like." Logan joked.

Rory laughed. "I'll never be as tough as Paris. Still I think I could one day be comparable to a Mr. T." Even though she knew it was the right thing to do. She couldn't help but feel guilty for taking Gigi like that. She knew Sherry really missed her daughter. Still she couldn't get over the fact that Sherry had left Gigi like that. She knew Sherry had been a careerwoman but as some point your child has to be more important than your life before your child.

Logan sensing Rory was feeling unsure about her actions gently took her hand and placed a small kiss on it. "You did the right thing Ace. Your mother would be proud of you."

Rory nodded. It amazed her how he always knew what she was thinking about. It was like he was clairvoyant or something. She looked at her baby sister who was no longer really a baby and was now more like a toddler. Still she would always be a baby in Rory's eyes. She could sworn that Gigi had winked at her while she was staring at her. She smiled and turned back around. "I think she's got the Gilmore spunk."

Christopher rushed into his home at a quarter to six. He was rushing not only because he was afraid of being late for the dinner party tonight but also because Monica had called this morning to talk to him. Monica never called him at the office. He stopped rushing though when he walked into the living room and saw that Sherry was sitting there looking timid. "What are you doing here?"

"I was in town for a business conference and I decided to come visit you and Gigi." She explained rather quietly. She had yet to recover from the brutal tongue lashing she had received from Rory.

"Did you think that maybe you should call before stopping by. If you did then you would have known that Gigi and I can't visit with you tonight." Christopher replied in a calm but cool tone.

Sherry nodded. "I know I just wasn't thinking. I thought maybe we could discuss Gigi."

"Like I said we can't because we have plans tonight. We are eating dinner at the Gilmore's in exactly one hour. I still have to go upstairs and get dressed and then get Gigi dressed and ready to go."

"Gigi's already there with Rory and Logan. They came by earlier when they found out I was here. Rory has really gotten good at tearing someone a new one." She tried to lighten the mood.

Christopher sighed. He was too tired to deal with this. "I'm not going to do this tonight Sherry. Maybe tomorrow we can meet for lunch or something but I can't do this tonight."

"I leave in the morning." Sherry said softly.

Christopher let out a bitter laugh. "Yeah well maybe for once you can think of Gigi before that damn career of yours. If you really want to visit with her then you should be willing to take time out of your life. You call once a month. Twice if you forget that you've already called this month. You talk about visiting but never do actually come to visit. So if you'll excuse me I'm going to pull a Sherry and let my life come before you. I'm going to upstairs and get ready and then I'm going to go have dinner with my family. You can call me tomorrow morning if you want to actually meet for lunch."

"So that's it. We aren't going to talk at all tonight. You're just going to go upstairs and get ready for some party?" Sherry asked in a hostile tone. She didn't like being given the brush off. "The Gilmore's huh? Are you meeting Lorelai? Is that why you are in such a rush to get ready?"

Christopher tensed up at the way she said Lorelai's name. She said it as if it was poisonous. "No I'm not. But if I were it would be none of your business. I suggest you leave before you shove your foot in your mouth even further than it already is. I figure walking away with it just above your diaphragm is much better than having it on the verge of coming out of your ass."Christopher turned around and made his way upstairs. He couldn't help but smile to himself at his last remark. It had definitely been a funny one. When he reached his room he did something he didn't think he should do. He picked up the phone and punched in ten familiar numbers. He waited four rings and then smiled at the feminine voice on the other end of the line. "Hey Lore."

"Hi Chris. What can I do for you?" She asked knowing that he needed her because he wouldn't have risked calling otherwise.

Christopher smiled at her uncanny knack for knowing his current mood just by the sound of his voice. "I was wondering if maybe later you could come over and share that bottle with me. Sherry stopped by today. I sort of need a pick me up."

Lorelai couldn't stop the small gasp from leaving her lips when she heard him say that Sherry was back in town. She knew it was the first time since the blonde had left for France while Christopher had been away on business. "I can definitely do that for you. What time?"

"Well I uh have a dinner at your parent's place in like forty five minutes with Rory, Logan, Gigi, and my mother. I should be done with that by nine. So how about a quarter to ten or so. Is that okay? Would Luke notice you had left?"

"I doubt it." Lorelai muttered quietly. "Yeah a quarter to ten is fine. I'll see you then. Give Rory a hug for me just don't tell her it's from me."

Christopher smiled. Lorelai was crazy sometimes. He pretended not to hear when she mumbled I doubt it. He figured they would discuss that later tonight. "Thank you Lorelai. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Well that's easy. You would drink alone. You'd become a regular Ernest Hemingway except you wouldn't as good with words." Lorelai joked. "Have fun tonight in the fifth dimension."

Christopher hung up the phone wondering if it was bad that he had called upon Lorelai to be his shoulder to lean on. He sighed. There was no use worrying about it now. If he didn't get ready soon he would be late. Even at thirty eight years of age his mother still ripped him a new one with her deadly glare whenever he was late. It was one of those things he could always count on and always share with Lorelai who had been on the receiving end of a few those herself. He made a mental note to thank Rory for coming to help him with this situation. He didn't know what he would do without his Gilmore Girls.

Okay so I know I just updated last night but I had to get this one out. I promised drama and you got drama. I think it was shocking drama too. Plus I added some Christopher and hinted at a little Balcony Buddy action next chapter. Thank you for the reviews. I loved them. I couldn't stop smiling because of them all day today. I'd really like my day to go like that tomorrow so how about some more for this chapter. THANKS FOR READING!


	14. Elian's Home Cuba

It took me a couple of days but I tried to get this out as soon as I could. Thank you for reading.

He smiled as soon as he saw that her Jeep was parked in his driveway. He could see her sitting on his front steps as he parked his Volvo. Gently he removed a sleeping Gigi from her car sear and carried her up the steps. He couldn't help but think that she looked so cute when she was sleeping. Lorelai took the toddler from his arms as soon as he reached the door. "You could have gone inside."

Lorelai shrugged. "Then I wouldn't have gotten to see you be all paternal as you removed her from her car seat." Lorelai pointed out.

Christopher nodded sagely as he let his keys and wallet on the table beside his front door. "Thank you for coming. I just needed some adult company."

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "It's not a problem. Nice tie by the way."

Christopher looked down at his tie and shook his head. "What's wrong with this tie? It is a Ralph Lauren tie."

"I know it's just not your usual style. Your mother bought it for you didn't she?" Lorelai asked with an amused smile on her face. She noticed how handsome he looked in his adult attire.

"That she did." Christopher admitted rather sheepishly.

Lorelai let out a quiet laugh. "You go upstairs and change into something less adult and I'll put this little one to bed." Lorelai didn't need him to tell her where Gigi's room was. She smiled when she walked in. It was so frilly and pink. She had a feeling that Gigi would one day rebel against everything that was in the room. She gently put her in the bed and kissed her on the forehead. Gigi was the perfect little version of Christopher. "Love you little one."

Gigi's eyes fluttered open for a second. "Love you too."

Lorelai had a feeling that she had just shared a Hallmark moment with the little girl. She stood there for a second just watching her and then slowly backed away. She had never really considered having more kids after Rory but Gigi had just made her think about it.

Christopher looked at his closet and sighed. He had become such an adult in the last five years. He grabbed one of his old Red Sox t-shirts and then quickly made her way back downstairs. He smiled when he saw her checking out the collection when he walked in the room. "I changed it back to its original order."

"I can see that. How many are there now?" Chris' music collection had always been one of her favorite things about him. That and he had actually accomplished making a Volvo cool.

Christopher smiled and thought for a moment. "I think at last count it was at 798."

"So how was dinner?" She asked playfully as she sat down and removed the lid from the bottle of tequila. "Were Emily and Francine their usual gossipy selves?"

Christopher shrugged and then nodded. "Yeah well you know they'll always be gossips. Mostly they just discussed the D.A.R. and Rory and Logan and well…us."

"Us? As in you and me?" Lorelai would have thought her mother would have refused to talk about her right now.

"They definitely had a good time reminiscing."

Lorelai closed her eyes. "Let me guess they brought up Missy's wedding didn't they?"

"Of course and how you slipped and fell in the mud and you were wearing that pink bridesmaid dress even though it was a well known fact that you and Missy hated each other."

Lorelai laughed. "But she had just gotten out of rehab for the third time and had like two society friends so her mother made her ask me and my mother made me accept. You didn't even want to come to the wedding in the first place."

"But I went because it meant a weekend with you at the Cape. You snuck out of your room later that night and met me on the beach. We shared a bottle of bubbly that had stolen during the reception." Chris smiled at the memory of that night. It had been such an amazing night. Despite the part where he carried her for nearly half a mile just so she could change clothes. "Are they even still married?"

"They aren't together but they're legally married still. He's running the family company perfectly so they won't break up. I think last I checked she lived in the main house and he had a condo out back."

Christopher laughed. He believed it. "I never thought I'd end up missing the society." He admitted quietly.

Lorelai was silent for a moment. "Neither did I. Still you and Sherry could still have that?"

Christopher scoffed. "Sherry and I are nothing. She's Gigi's mother if you even want to say she could qualify as a mother."

"So you don't think you'll reconcile?"

Chris shook his head no. "Things were over with Sherry before Gigi was born. Gigi just prolonged the inevitable." If he was Superman he would have redone the moment he decided to consider marrying Sherry to give Gigi a proper home. "You know you're mother has made peace with the fact that are you are in love and are going to marry Luke. This evening she even talked about you to as a couple and she complimented him."

"She did?" Lorelai asked in disbelief. Emily didn't exactly hand compliments out. You really had to work to earn them.

"Yeah she said that he owned quite the little diner and that he was a good guy."

Lorelai silently processed everything he had just told her. "Things aren't good with us. He spends his days at the dinner, his nights with April, and he sleeps in my bed. We don't talk. We don't spend quality time together." She paused for a moment to work up the nerve to her question. "Do you ever wonder what would have happened if I had said yes when you came to the Inn that day?"

"Not as much as I do other days. I think you would have come back to Hartford sooner or later or at least Princeton. You know the reason I was so flakey for so long was because it was hard for me to be near you and Rory when I knew I couldn't have you. You were the best part of my life. Still now you have Luke and you two are going work past this."

"And if we don't?" She asked quietly. She had a feeling she was on a sinking ship and if she didn't get off soon she was going to drown.

Chris sighed. "Talk to him Lorelai. He's your fiancé." He looked at his watch. "It's only 11:30 you can go to him and talk to him. You can make things good again. You had it once. You can get it back."

Lorelai let out a deep sigh. "I was supposed to come here and let you vent. I wasn't supposed to whine about my relationship."

"You helped plenty and we didn't even have to get drunk. This melodrama is becoming too normal for us." He joked. He kissed her softly on her cheek and then escorted her to her Jeep.

Lorelai sniffled a bit. "Gigi's lucky to have a Dad as young and hot and sweet as you."

"I learned to be a parent from the best mother I've ever met. She has a daughter who loves her to death and even though they are on the rocks right now I have a feeling things will be better soon." Christopher could never have done any of this if it weren't for her. She had been the only one who thought he could be a decent single father. He hadn't even believed in himself. "Oh and before you go you may want to make up with Rory soon because she's throwing this event in a couple of weeks where Barry Manillow is the main act."

"No." Lorelai was a proud Fanillow.

Christopher laughed. "Yeah it's on a yacht and it is going to be so great. It's going to be her last even until she does the ball next spring."

"I'll keep that in mind." Lorelai had a feeling that this was just going to be one more thing that would push her to fixing this rut they were in right now. She missed her daughter terribly. "Night Chris."

Christopher watched her back out of his driveway and he waved a little. Once she was gone he closed his eyes and shook his head. He had it bad for Lorelai Gilmore and he was sure it would never go away. If only she could have it bad for him back without requiring him to be a total douche or a "homewrecker".

"I think we should go ballroom dancing." Rory whispered seductively in Logan's ear.

Logan laughed. "I knew I shouldn't have let you watch that movie. Still I guess we can do ballroom dancing as long as you promise to call me Fernando and I'll call you Carmella."

"And we can become professional ballroom dancers by night average Ivy League students by day." She joked.

"Exactly Ace." He whispered softly in her ear.

She shivered. "How did you get this scar?" She asked as she softly traced the small wound that was as long as his clavicle.

The way Rory's hand felt as she traced his clavicle was driving him crazy. "I got into a bar fight in Cuba."

"Cuba as in the small island that Americans are not supposed to venture to until Fidel Castro and the Communist party die there?" Rory asked in disbelief. She would have never considered going to Cuba. Then again she would never have done most of the things that Logan and his friends had done in the past. She couldn't help but notice how he had slowed down and become more cautious though now that they were dating seriously.

Logan laughed and smirked. "Elian's home land Cuba. I took a boat from the Dominican there with Finn, Colin, Robert, and someone else back during freshmen year. I got really drunk and asked if anyone had seen Elian since we shipped him back. The guy got pissed and asked if I was mocking his country. He tried to stab me with an oyster shucker but instead just gave me a battle scar."

"You never cease to shock me Logan."

His smirk returned. "I can't let you get bored with me now can I Ace?"

Rory gently kissed the small wound and then looked up at him. She could just barely see him in the dark. Still she could see that ever present smirk. "That'll never happen. As long as one day you actually take me ballroom dancing."

"If that's what you want." Logan groaned when he gently felt her nibble his earlobe. "This is so good Ace."

Rory moved from his ear to his jaw. "I love you too."

Thank you for reading. I hope you liked this chapter. I tried to add some romance to go with all of that Balcony Buddy angst. They will get together soon. I promise. I have an idea of where I am going with this so I will try and update soon. REVIEW!


	15. Batshit Crazy

1Oh my gosh it's another update! Enjoy!

Paris silently freaked out as she stood in her closet searching for something to wear. She was so caught up in freaking out that she actually didn't hear Rory snickering. It wasn't until she grumbled and left the closet did she see her ex-nemesis sitting on her bed grinning from ear to ear. "What's got you giddy Gilmore?"

"He still makes you nervous." Rory answered. She couldn't stop smiling. She hadn't seen Paris like this in a long time. "At least you realize you are going on a date of sorts with him this time."

Paris rolled her eyes. "Did you come here to torture me or did you come here to help me find an appropriate outfit for this afternoon? I'm meeting him in exactly one hour and fifty-seven minutes."

Rory took a second to answer. "Both."

"What do you mean both?" Paris demanded as she made her way back into her closet.

"You asked if I just came her to torture you or if I was going to help you find an appropriate outfit for this afternoon. The answer is both." Rory grinned. She knew she was driving Paris crazy. Paris was sane about most things. Okay so that wasn't true. Still Paris wasn't batshit crazy about most things, but she was for some reason batshit crazy when it came to Jamie.

"Gilmore..." Paris growled. She didn't have time for this nonsense.

Rory threw her hands up in surrender and waved one of her Doyle's T-shirts in the air as a white flag. She then made her way into the closet and sighed. It only took her a moment to find something that would make Jamie struggle to fight the urge to kiss Paris as soon as he saw her.

"He gave me this sweater." Paris told Rory quietly.

"I know he did. You look amazing in that sweater Paris. It brings out the blue in your eyes." Rory knew that for a long time Paris cherished that sweater. Jamie had spent days searching for that sweater to give her as a Christmas gift. He had told her that it had to be the perfect shade of blue.

Paris bit her lip and then nodded. She went into her bathroom to take a quick shower.

"I'll be in the living room while your taking a shower okay." Rory wanted to go back into the room as soon as she saw that Doyle was sitting on the couch. She had a feeling that he was going to quiz her about Jamie. She also had a feeling that he wasn't going to like the answers she was going to provide.

Doyle looked up to see Rory walking out of his bedroom and smiled. He knew Gilmore would give him the scoop on Paris and Jamie. "Morning Gilmore."

"Hey Doyle." Rory sat down in one of the armchairs and slowly started flipping through this morning's copy of the Globe.

"So did Paris find an outfit for her rendevous?" Doyle asked casually.

Rory nodded but didn't look up from the paper.

Doyle furrowed his brows. She was avoiding discussing this with him. She wasn't going to get off that easily. A man who could stick with Paris was a man who didn't give up. "So do you know Jamie?"

Rory once again nodded. Oh Doyle you stubborn little man.

"When did you meet him?" Doyle knew she would have to actually voice a response to this question.

Rory rolled her eyes and then looked up from the paper. There was no way she going to be able to avoid this discussion. "Paris and I met Jamie at a conference in Washington, D.C. the summer before our senior year of high school. Paris and Jamie dated from senior year until she dumped him for Asher. You remember Asher Fleming. Anyway yes they were a serious couple. Yes I thought he was nice guy. Yes he was handsome. He went to Princeton and now he is going to law school. Where? I don't know. Do you have anything to worry about? I don't know."

Doyle had seen that Rory had become more like Paris than he could have ever possibly imagined. He sat there quietly processing all of the information he had just received. It seemed as though Rory liked this Jamie fellow. He knew she wouldn't provide him with anymore information so he sighed. "Thank you for all of that insightful information Gilmore."

"No problem Doyle." Rory closed her eyes as she pretended to be reading the Globe again. She knew that Doyle wanted her to say that he had nothing to worry about and that Paris and Jamie would never get back together but she just couldn't lie to him. She had a feeling that after not getting into Harvard or maybe even before not getting into Harvard Jamie was the biggest regret in her life.

Paris looked at herself in the mirror and understood fully why Rory had chosen this outfit for her. It accentuated everything that was beautiful about her. She knew it didn't bode well for her relationship with Doyle that she was so concerned with looking good for Jamie. She walked into the living room and found Rory pretending to be reading the Globe and Doyle watching an episode of Star Trek. "How do I look?"

Rory smiled as soon as she saw Paris. She had once again made the right choice when it came to what outfit Paris should wear for a date. "Amazing Paris. You look absolutely amazing."

Doyle had never seen Paris wear something so age appropriate before. All he could do was smile and nod. She had left him completely speechless. That tingly feeling left fairly quickly though when he remembered she was wearing the outfit for someone else. "You look lovely Paris." He said and then he left the apartment.

Paris stood there confused not sure what to say or what had just happened. She looked to Rory for an explanation.

"I think he just is struggling with you going out to lunch with Jamie." Rory explained softly.

"I owe it to Jamie. Things ended so badly with him. I treated him like such dirt near the end. He didn't deserve that." Paris admitted. She had been so wrapped up in her relationship with Asher that she had completely forgotten the first boy to treat her like she could be as special as Rory. He had been the first guy to love her for who she was. He thought she was great just the way she was. "I just wish Doyle could understand that."

"He'll get over it soon enough. Still, you should probably head over to the old dorm. You're supposed to meet him in like twenty minutes."

Paris nodded and gave her best friend a tight hug. "Thank you for this Rory."

Rory and Paris left the apartment together. They stood there silent for a moment beside Paris' SUV. Finally Rory cleared her throat. "You're going to do great Paris. Just remember you can say totally crazy things and Jamie won't ditch you."

"How do you know that?"

Rory grinned. "Because he didn't leave you on that first date and I'm sure you made yourself look completely insane."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence no matter how backwards it was." Paris got into her car and waved at Rory before heading toward the school.

Rory watched her go. She didn't know whether she was rooting for a reconciliation between the two first loves or if she was rooting for Paris to stay with Doyle. She had a feeling it was the first one.

Luke had been asleep when Lorelai had returned from Christopher's that night. He didn't even ask her where she was. Lorelai didn't know if she was happy or sad about that. Part of her wanted him to be furious and jealous about the fact that she wasn't there the night before because that meant that he wanted her all to himself. There was this other part of her though that said she wouldn't have been able to tell him the truth even if she tried. She looked at the clock and realized that the diner would probably be nearly empty so she grabbed her keys and hopped into her Jeep. She needed to talk to him just like Christopher had told her to do. She smiled and laughed a bit at the realization that she was taking Christopher's advice. She guessed stranger things had happened before.

Luke stopped wiping down the counter when he saw her walk into the diner. He smiled a little. He hadn't seen her when he got home last night. He figured she had just gone out to clear her head. He knew she was struggling with not seeing Rory as often as she liked. "Hey."

Lorelai smiled and sat down at one of stools. She watched him immediately pull out a cup and pour her some coffee. "Hi."

"So things slow at the Inn or something?" He asked rather awkwardly. Lorelai wasn't normally one to say a sentence containing one word. Okay well one completely normal word.

Lorelai shook her head. "Not really I just thought I'd drop by. I kind of thought we needed to talk about some things."

"What things?"

Lorelai shrugged. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Well it's just things have been a little less than kosher between the two of us lately."

Luke was puzzled. He didn't think things had been any different than they usually were.

"It's just well Luke are we ever going to reset the date?"

Luke frowned. "I thought you said I could have some time to deal with this."

"I did. It's just you've been dealing with this for a while." Lorelai paused. She drank some coffee. "It wouldn't be as bad it's just you've been dealing with this all alone. You've completely shut me out."

"Things are complicated for me right now Lorelai. I'm just trying to connect with April. I mean it's just a lot of work and effort to connect with a kid."

Lorelai stopped herself from scoffing out loud. "I know that Luke. I raised a child myself. I had to connect with Rory too." She paused. She didn't want to sound so harsh. "It's just I'd like meet her. I'd like to know her. I don't want to be there all the time when you spend time with her. It would just be nice to say hi I'm your father's fiancée and it's really nice to finally meet you."

Luke sighed. "Soon. You'll meet her soon. Just I want her to love me a little more before she meets you."

"Why?"

"Because people always love you Lorelai. They love you and they see me as Grizzly Adams or something. You're the woman who can when people over in no time. I mean for God sakes even Mrs. Kim thinks you're a good woman. I just want to know that she likes me before she meets you." Luke admitted.

Lorelai sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. She shook her hair and stared at him for a moment. She wasn't sure what she was going to say. "Okay. The thing is Luke things are a bit rocky for us. At least set a date. It doesn't even have to be a super close one. Just a date. I just need a date."

"I can't do that."

Lorelai closed her eyes and shook her head. "Well then sooner or later I'm not going to be able tod this dance."

"Dance?"

"Yeah we're doing a dance right now Luke. It's the cold feet to the altar dance. The thing is things are going down in flames right now Luke and neither one of us are willing to admit it. My daughter and I aren't talking. Sookie is a mom and a wife. She doesn't have time for my problems. You are supposed to be the one person I turn to when I need a shoulder to cry on. But you're not."

Luke furrowed his brow in confusion. "What do you mean I'm not?"

"You're not the person I run to when I feel like I'm drowning."

"Then who is?"

Lorelai bit her lip. She knew he wasn't going to like her answer. "Christopher." She then walked out of the diner, got into her Jeep, and made her way back to the Inn. She wondered if he was reconsidering his inability to set a date. She knew that if she called Christopher and asked him to marry her he would say when and where. If she said tonight in Las Vegas he'd say he'd book the tickets and would meet her at the airport. She knew she couldn't say the same thing about Luke. Shouldn't you want to marry the person you think is worthy of spending the rest of your life as soon as you possibly could?

Paris watched Jamie make his way down the hall. He was even taller than she had remembered. She felt herself get lost in his handsome dark looks all over again. She couldn't help but smile when he hugged her instead of just shaking her hand or greeting her some other awkward way. "So have you decided where we are going to eat?"

Paris looked down at her and smiled. He noticed she was wearing the sweater he had bought her when he found out that she was going to Yale instead of Harvard. It was supposed to be a romantic gesture. Sort of like I found you a blue sweater that will be Yale appropriate but will also bring out the blue in your eyes. At least that had been the idea behind the gift at the time. "You still like Italian food?"

Paris nodded.

"Good because I made reservations at this great place. Well, at least that's what the Zagat guide says."

Paris looked up at him and smirked. "Is this the part where I'm supposed to say your perfect."

"If you'd like to." Jamie said with a wink.

Paris laughed. "Maybe after we leave the restaurant."

Lorelai found Sookie in the kitchen dicing parsley and bossing her staff around. "Hey Sookie got a minute."

"Hey because I like you so much I'll give you two." Sookie joked as she left her station. She joined Lorelai in the empty dining room.

"You say romantic things like that to Jackson?" Lorelai asked with a smile. She loved the banter she shared with Sookie. It was almost as good as the banter she shared with Rory.

Sookie shook her head. "No I save my good stuff like that for you."Sookie noticed that even though Lorelai appeared to be chipper there was something off about her. "So what's up?"

Lorelai looked up at the ceiling for a second and then back down. "I think things are almost over between Luke and I."

"What! Why!" Sookie asked in disbelief.

Lorelai shrugged. "I think I still love Christopher." Lorelai paused.

"Are you serious?"

Lorelai nodded. "He's the only guy who's never really given up on me. He knows me better than I know myself. Luke is so wrapped up in April that he doesn't even notice me anymore. He won't even set a new date. He refuses."

Sookie wrapped her arms around Lorelai and hugged her as tight as she could. She knew that Lorelai was crumbling. "I think you know what you have to do."

"What?" Lorelai asked quietly. She was completely lost as to what step she should take next.

Sookie pulled her friend back so she could look her in the eyes. "Go talk to Rory."

Luke showed up to the Inn twenty minutes later but by then Lorelai was already on her way to Hartford. Sookie didn't tell him where Lorelai had gone mostly because she knew that Lorelai needed to just be with Rory right now.

Lorelai parked her car in the main drive and then slowly but surely made her way to the pool house. She stood fifteen feet away from it for a good five minutes. She was trying to work up the nerve that it was going to take to admit she was wrong and that she had made the wrong choice by not supporting Rory. She walked over to the door. She raised her hand and then she slowly knocked.

Rory was in the middle of an important conversation with the linen company that was supplying all of the table clothes and napkins for her event when she opened the door. She was in the middle of telling them that she needed to up her order when she saw her mother standing there looking fragile and broken. She didn't know what to say or do. She just stood there staring at her mother. Finally she hugged her mother and told the person that she would have to call them back in a few minutes. "I missed you."

"I'm sorry kiddo. I'm so sorry."

I don't even know where this update came from. It seems as though I'm on a roll with this story. It makes sense because I struggled with updates for so long. Sadly I feel as though the end is coming soon. Maybe three or four more chapters at the most. Still I love your reviews. I can't wait to read the ones for this chapter. Thanks for reading.


	16. An Ice Cream Cone With Tommy Lee

Another update…I'm getting pretty regular at this…Maybe it's because school is quickly approaching and I don't want to make you suffer when it starts…Hope you like this one!

Lorelai relished the warmth of her daughter's hug. Was it possible to miss hugging one person so much? She couldn't imagine how people who lost their children could go a whole year or a whole decade without the warmth of their child's hug. She sighed as Rory pulled back. "I'm sorry to show up so randomly I just I needed to apologize. It's been too long kid. It's been way to long." Lorelai laughed a little. "I have felt like Rhoda without Mary."

Rory pulled her mother into the pool house. "Why did you stay away for so long?"

Lorelai shrugged as she sat down on one the plush couches that Emily had purchased for Rory's bachelorette pad. "I didn't know how to apologize. I couldn't find the words."

Rory understood the feeling. "I'm just happy you finally found them."

"You were on the phone when you answered the door." Lorelai pointed out to her daughter. She was going to tell her everything that had happened since their fight but she knew Rory should finish the call first.

"Just give me two minutes and then I'm all yours." Rory told her mother and then she quickly hit the redial button. "It's Miss Gilmore of the Hartford Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution." She paused so they could say oh yes Miss Gilmore we were waiting for you to call back. "I just wanted to double my order." She waited for them to question whether or not that was possible. "You know my policy. If I give you at least a week's notice it's possible. If you tell me now that you can't do it then we'll take our business somewhere else." She waited for them to back track and say oh Miss Gilmore that isn't necessary we'll fill your order. "I figured you would. Well Thank You Claudette please tell Roger it's a pleasure doing business with his store for me." She waited for Claudette to kiss her ass a bit more. She then promptly hung up and smiled at her mother. "You must think I've turned into a vicious person since our fight."

Lorelai laughed. She couldn't believe Rory had threatened a salesperson like that. Her Rory had always shied away from conflict and would let someone walk all over her before she actually would stand up for herself. "It's just proof that there is just a bit of Emily Gilmore in you."

"I've just dealt with the same linen place for all of my events since I started. They always play the same game with me and I always win."

"I'm proud of you for sticking up for yourself and not letting them push you around." Lorelai complimented her beautiful daughter. She had never thought Rory would ever learn to defend herself the way she had.

Rory shrugged sheepishly. She too had noticed that she wasn't the girl that Paris had pushed around at Chilton. She had blossomed into a woman. She could thank Emily and Mitchum for that. She couldn't help but silently think that was an odd duo to thank.

"So the linens are for?"

Rory smiled. She always smiled when it came to her events. They had become a part of her. "Well it's an event to bring awareness to autism. We're earning money to help bring awareness and to maybe find a cure. God I feel like I'm talking to a reporter whenever I talk about my events. I guess that comes when you're always in the society pages for something you're planning."

"Wait you are in the society pages?" Lorelai knew that it was hard to get in the society pages.

Rory nodded and grinned. "Yeah my events are pretty hard to get into. See this next one is a thousand dollars a seat. The best part though is Barry Manillow is performing."

"Your dad did tell me about an event you were planning where Barry was going to be there."

"Yeah I called his manager and we discussed my reason for wanting him. The only catch is I have to send a private plane for him to come out here."

Lorelai cocked her eyebrow. "How are you going to do that?"

"Well Finn is loaning me his family's private plane." Rory couldn't believe how perfectly everything had worked out. "See I'm going all out because this is my last event except for the debutante ball in the spring. Still you talked to Dad?"

Lorelai figured this was the part where she told Rory everything so that was what she did. She told her about how Luke and April, Luke and his inability to set a new date, how she had turned to Christopher these last few months because she felt alone, and mostly how she was afraid that she had made the wrong decision by choosing Luke over Christopher because Christopher had proved again and again that he was the one who would always be there for her ready to commit if she was except for that one time he found out his girlfriend was pregnant. She had watched as Rory's face changed and how she would switch between a frown and a smile. She talked and talked and then finally she was done. She had caught Rory up on everything. "So now I'm here with you in the living room of your pool house bachelorette pad waiting to see what you think about all of the things that have happened in my life."

Rory sat there for a minute not knowing exactly what she was supposed to say. She let the entire information sink in and then she cleared her throat a little. "I swear I feel like I've just stepped into an episode of General Hospital or something. Complete with love triangles and lots of tears. I think you should do whatever makes you happy Mom. I think you need to realize that if you marry Dad you're going to end up here. I think you should realize his life is here and it wouldn't be fair for him to move to Stars Hollow. I think I love you."

"You think?"

"I know." Rory clarified. "I know I love you and I know I'll support any decision you make."

Lorelai stood up and kissed her daughter on the cheek. "I needed that. I really did. On the same topic of romance Luke told me that Jess came to see you.

"Yeah he did. He was sitting on my front steps waiting for me. Logan and I were coming home from dinner with friends. Things are over between Jess and I." Rory noticed that her mother was smiling the entire time she explained the situation. Lorelai would never be a fan of Jess.

"So things with Logan are?"

Rory smirked and bit her lip. She blushed at the thought of him. She couldn't believe she was so lucky. "Let's just say we're a lot like Leo and Kate."

"You fell in love on a sinking ship?"

Rory rolled her eyes. "No that's you and Luke." Rory gave her mother an innocent smile after the last word left her lips. She couldn't resist.

"Ouch. You are meaner than Joan Rivers is to the fashion impaired." Lorelai joked.

Rory pursed her lips. "I am not going to honor that with a response."

"So if you're not like Leo and Kate in the Titanic then who is the celebrity couple you most resemble?"

Rory thought for a moment. "Okay then we're like Reese and Ryan except I'm not the bigger star I just have a bigger inheritance."

Lorelai gave Rory the thumbs up. "I like that. I love that. Your dad and I are going to be the Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck of the Hartford society. We're going to keep it on the down low. Maybe we can even keep Gigi out of the spot light like they keep Violet out of the tabloids."

"I've missed this." Rory told her softly. "So I must know TomKat or Tom and Nicole?"

Lorelai let out a resigned sigh and then clicked her tongue. "Tom and Nicole of course if only because Tom was still cute back then. Seriously what was he doing jumping on Oprah's couch and then challenging Matt Lauer to a discussion about medication. All I have to say is I miss Jerry Maguire."

Rory nodded as if she was a black woman at church listening to someone tell her the gospel. "As do I. I miss Joey from Dawson's Creek more than I miss Jerry. Seriously when is Pacey going to show up and tell her that she was far better off with Chris Klein?"

Logan parked his Porsche in the back drive next to Rory's smaller and more eco-friendly car. He grabbed the German food he had picked up on his way back from the poker game. He didn't bother to knock on the door because he figured the disuse of knocking went along with having a drawer and closet space. He was surprised though when he saw her sitting on the couch with her mother. He didn't know what to say or do. He thought about just slowly backing up. That wasn't going to happen though when Rory looked up at the smell of food. "Hey. I didn't mean to interrupt."

Lorelai turned around and saw Logan standing there with a bag of takeout in his hand. She assumed this was normal for the couple. "It's okay I was just leaving."

"Are you sure because I can just leave the food and go back New Haven? I mean sooner or later I will have to sleep in my own bed." Logan cringed. "Did I just bring up my bed in front of my girlfriend's mother who already kind of hates me?"

"Yes you do. But that's not true. I don't kind of hate you."

Logan cringed even more. "Your kind of hate has turned into full on hatred because I'm pretty sure that isn't a good thing."

Lorelai stood up and smiled at her daughter. "Chris thinks the world of you."

"Yeah but you know Rory and her dad aren't as close as you two are." Logan interrupted.

Lorelai smiled even more. She hadn't even given him a chance to be this guy. She had just assumed that because he was rich and he didn't hide it that he was a jerk. "Logan simmer down now son. I like you. I don't love you like Rory's dad does. But I like you. I am going to go back to Stars Hollow now and talk to Luke. I will see you, daughter of mine, in the next couple of days or so. And you." She said as she made her way to front door after giving Rory a big hug. "Well I'll see you if not before then definitely next weekend."

"You're coming to the event?" Logan couldn't believe that Lorelai was being so nice to him. He thought there was no way in hell that this was going to happen.

Lorelai beamed. "I am a Fanillow. If I used the computer I would join Fanillow chat rooms. I wouldn't miss a Fanillow concert for anything. Okay I would if it meant I was going to see Guns, Motley, and Poison together. It would take a super trio concert like that to keep me away from Barry." Lorelai looked at Rory. "You should warn his people."

"Don't worry I will." Rory loved that her mother was being normal around Logan. She couldn't ask for anything else.

"So did you like the gift?" Logan and Rory had searched the entire country of Monaco to find that gift. Okay so it wasn't as big as say China or even France but it did beat the Vatican in size and population.

Rory perked up at the mention of the present. "I forgot. I got caught up in and forgot. You stay there while I go get it." Rory said as she rushed towards her closet. She knew her mother was going to love this. She picked the big white box up off the floor of her closet and then rushed back to the living room. She handed it to her mother and waited anxiously for her mother to open it.

"You didn't have to do this kid." Lorelai said as she removed the top. She gasped as soon as she saw what was inside. It was a dress. Not just any dress though. It was a Pucci dress. Lorelai loved Pucci. "Oh my God you bought me a real Pucci dress?"

"It'll be perfect for the event won't it?" Rory knew her mother would like the dress. She and Logan had found it in a small boutique. She had known this was the perfect gift for her mother the moment she saw it.

Lorelai was stunned. "This is amazing." She hugged both of them. "Thank you both so much. I can't believe I own a real Pucci dress. You didn't have to buy this for me but I'm sure glad you did."

Logan could see how happy Rory was that her mother liked her gift and even had a use for it.

"Okay well now me and my dress are going to go back to Stars Hollow. This is nice. I love life without animosity or awkwardness." Lorelai joked. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." She winked and then she was gone.

"So you two are back to being Laverne and Shirley?"

Rory shrugged and nodded. "No more like Rhoda and Mary." She kissed him softly. "You brought me something to eat?"

Logan nodded and showed her the bag.

"Do I smell…?" She paused and sniffed the air. "German?"

Logan nodded and let her see the contents of the bag. "Do I get a kiss?"

Rory bit her lip and then kissed him softly on the cheek. "You get more than that after we eat." Rory followed him to the bedroom. She moaned a little when he pulled of his t-shirt and dropped his pants. She loved it when he was standing there in his boxers. She grabbed the shirt she had been wearing and pulled it on after she had undressed. She loved wearing his t-shirts. They were the perfect size for her. Dean's would have been too big and Jess' too small. "I thought you were playing poker tonight?" She snuggled up next to him.

"I played for an hour and then I left." Logan took a bite of his schnitzel and made a mental note to eat more German food.

"Why did you leave? You hardly see the boys anymore." Rory was afraid he thought that she wanted him to spend all of his time with her and none of it with his friends.

Logan smirked at her concern. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Finn wasn't there because he and Anne Marie went out of town to see her parents. Colin was blubbering about Stephanie because Stephanie was mad about the milk maid. Robert was hitting said milk maid. Must I go on?"

Rory shook her head no. She was content with his answer. "I forgot about the milk maid."

"Yes, well she spends a lot of time going back and forth from Colin, Finn and Robert's places."

"Does Anne Marie know about this?" Rory would be mystified if Logan said that Anne Marie was okay with a milk maid shacking up with her boyfriend.

Logan scoffed. "No. Are you kidding me? Finn's apartment would turn into the O.K. Corral and the worst part is the maid wouldn't even understand. Colin is in the process of sending her back home."

"Why is there a process?"

Logan shrugged and rolled his eyes. "It's Colin. Everything has a process. Still I must admit I also left because my father paged me."

"Why?"

Logan took a deep breath. He wanted to tell her right away. He didn't want her to think he was hiding it from her. "He wanted to talk about next year."

"And?" Rory asked rather uneasily. Mitchum had a tendency to make her nervous.

Logan gulped. "And he decided that after graduation I am going to get on a plane and fly across the ocean to England, London to be specific. I'm going to work there for a year."

"London?"

Logan nodded in confirmation. "London."

"Well…" Rory paused for dramatic effect. "You are very lucky that not only do I love fish and chips, but I also for a weird obsession when it comes to William and Harry, Fergie and Andrew, Camilla and Charles, oh and my all time Posh and Becks. So you see London is going to fit our relationship perfectly."

"Are you sure? I mean I realize it'll be long distance but…" Rory stopped him with a kiss. She kissed him and she made him forget all of his worries. She kissed him and she even convinced herself that if they could survive Jess not even an ocean couldn't break them up. "I love you Ace." He whispered softly as he ran his fingers through her soft brown hair and gently kissed her neck.

She let out a satisfying sigh. She loved it when he ran his fingers through her hair. "I love you more."

Logan pulled back and looked her in the eyes. "There is no way that is possible because I would kiss Star Jones if you asked me too."

"You don't want to play this game because I will totally win."

Logan smirked. "Do I hear a challenge?"

"I'd sleep in the same bed as Andy Rooney for you."

Logan shrugged his shoulders as if that was nothing. "I'd marry Liza for you."

"Liza? You'd marry Liza Minelli, a man beater for me? Well that would be sweet and everything if I weren't willing to go on a date with Mike Tyson for you. Liza may beat her husbands but Mike bites people's ears off. He bites them off. He bites them the hell off."

Logan wasn't sure what beat a date with Mike Tyson. Then he realized he couldn't beat it but he could tie it. "I may not be able to beat it but I can tie it. Okay so I would be willing to share an ice cream cone with Tommy Lee."

"That is love. I'm so happy we'd be willing to do horrible things for one another." She softly drew circles on his chest. She loved the way it felt to be in his arms. It was like nothing else. "I still can't believe you'd share an ice cream cone with Tommy Lee. I mean…ewe."

"You can't ridicule me for loving you so much." Logan then started to laugh. "Hey I'm not the one willing to share a bed with Andy Rooney. What about Trent Lott? Would you share a bed with Trent Lott?"

Rory cringed. "That is like me asking you to share a bed with Barbara Walters. It's just not a fair request."

Okay so that was the update. I don't know if I really liked this one or not. I thought it was pretty good. Definitely not my favorite though. Oh and the title of the last chapter was in reference to Paris. She was batshit crazy. It was the best title I could think of. I hope you liked this one though. I really did try. So review please. I had never considered a sequel to this but maybe. I don't really know what it would be about. Still review please. Thanks for reading!


	17. Two Bitter Lovers

First thank you for all of the reviews! Second I have to say that fairieangel is the reason I updated so quickly. Her review inspired me. Oh and I have to admit I couldn't think of anything grosser than sharing an ice cream cone with Tommy Lee. Thank you so much for reading! I hope you like this chapter!

Paris found Doyle passed out on the couch when she walked into the small apartment. She groaned. She knew Doyle wasn't very good at drinking liquor. She found his empty bottle of Malibu under the coffee table. She threw it in the trash can and then stared at him for a moment. After grabbing a blanket out of the linen closet she went into the bedroom to study. She couldn't deal with this right now. She understood that he had been frazzled about this lunch. Still that didn't mean that he needed to drown his worries in alcohol. She grabbed her Genetics textbook off of the dresser along with a highlighter. Lunch with Jamie had been everything Rory promised it would be. It had been fun. It had been normal okay well as normal as any lunch with her could be. It had been refreshing. She had apologized for how things ended and he had said that he understood. The only downside to the whole thing was that she realized how much she missed spending time with Jamie. She knew that when Doyle was finally sober she would have to tell him how things went. That scared her.

Jamie sat in his car questioning whether or not this had been a good idea. He'd called around and found out where Paris was staying. He would have followed her home but knew that she was paranoid enough to notice him behind her. The setting of her apartment building was a little more "street" than he would have liked. Finally he got out of his car and locked the door behind him. He crossed the street and made his way inside. He looked at the mailboxes until he saw hers. He memorized the number 3C. The fact that she was living in a six story walk up shocked him. He wondered if her parents knew about this. The sheer number of locks on her front door didn't surprise him because well he knew Paris. She was as anal retentive as they come. He lifted his hand and paused for a moment before knocking.

Paris sighed as she closed her book and made her way to the front door. It took her a minute to open it due to the fact that she had to unlock at least seven locks. She saw him standing there and couldn't help but smile. "Jamie."

"Paris I just I needed to see you one last time." Jamie admitted quietly.

Paris looked at Doyle and shook her head. "I'd invite you in but…"

"But your boyfriend is in there and you don't want to start a fight." Jamie finished for her.

Paris nodded. "He's passed out drunk but yeah. I had a good time today Jamie."

Jamie grinned. "I'm glad. It felt like old times." Jamie paused. "Paris what does this mean for us?"

Paris looked down at her feet. She had never felt so uneasy before. "It means. It means. I don't know what it means Jamie. I have a boyfriend. We live here together. I have a life here. I mean you're in Boston. We aren't very good at long distance."

"I'm transferring to Yale for law school." Jamie had been waiting to share this detail with her. He wasn't sure why he hadn't told her at lunch. He just didn't. He'd made the decision a while ago. He wasn't happy in Boston. His parents were smothering him. He also thought that maybe just maybe if he came here they could be together. He knew that a big assumption but he couldn't help it.

Paris was shocked to say the least by his news. "As of when?"

"As of the last three months. I came down here to talk to a professor and to work out some details about my transfer. I start in January."

Paris closed her eyes and wished she could think of what she wanted to say next. "That's six weeks away. I'll call you Jamie. The thing is Jamie if I break up with Doyle it'll cause a lot of rifts."

"I'll wait for your call. Just so know you can stay with me and I promise you won't need nearly as many locks at my place." Jamie took that as a sign that he had a chance. "Lock all of your doors." He instructed and then he made his way back toward the stairs.

Paris watched him go. Despite the stress that was coming with this situation she couldn't help but smile. He was willing to live with her. He was willing to wait for her. She had never had someone want her so much in her entire life. She walked back into the apartment and found Doyle struggling with a bottle of aspirin. She undid the top for him as she sat down next to him. "Don't you have an exam tomorrow?" She asked softly.

Doyle closed his eyes for a moment to stop the room from spinning. "Yeah I do. How did lunch go? Was that him in the hall?"

There was something about the anger in Doyle's voice that made Paris angry. Still she knew it was to be blamed on the booze and the sudden arrival of a boy Doyle knew nothing about so instead of yelling at him she just let it slide. "It was nice. I had a nice time catching up with him."

"You didn't say whether or not it was him in the hallway." Doyle pointed out as he popped two of the small white tablets into his mouth.

Paris nodded. "It was him. He just came to say goodbye one more time."

"Why?"

Paris was getting tired of the way he was speaking to her. "He's going back to Boston until January. Then he'll be transferring to Yale for law school."

"A lawyer huh? I pegged you to only go for creative types." Doyle wished he had another bottle of Malibu.

Paris clicked her tongue. "I don't have a type. You know Doyle I get you are upset about this whole situation but you aren't making it any better for yourself. I know I didn't tell you much about Jamie so here it goes. I met Jamie in D.C. the summer before my senior year. He was handsome, smart, and my equal when it came to debating. We dated seriously until I met Asher. I had never dated anyone other than Jamie so I fell for Asher. I broke up with Jamie in the cruelest of ways. He came to visit me and I ditched him. I told him in the end I couldn't do it anymore because there was someone else. Still he was never mean to me. He never held it against me. After Asher died I considered calling him but I wasn't sure what to say. I stopped thinking about Jamie after a while. We got together. When Jamie called the other day I felt like I was that girl who was about to be a senior again."

"The question is do you love him or do you love me?" Doyle needed to know. He couldn't avoid this question any longer.

Paris closed her eyes to think for a moment. "I love you both. I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet. I need time. I need you to just be there for me."

"You have a nerve demanding patience when you never give it." Doyle spat.

"I won't fight with you Doyle mostly because you're still drunk. I'm going to bed. You can sleep on the couch tonight." Paris got up from the couch and went into their bedroom. She shut the door behind her and willed the tears not to fall. She couldn't be emotional right now. She grabbed the textbook she had been looking at earlier and she went back to studying. Paris could always count on her textbooks to be there for her. She briefly considered calling Rory but decided not to thinking that Rory was probably with Logan or sleeping.

Lorelai listened to the eight voice messages that Luke had left on her phone. The first one he sounded worried. The next four he sounded irritated. The two after that were apologetic. The last one was bored and disinterested. She fixed her makeup and then made her way from her Jeep into the home she had raised her daughter in. She found Luke sitting at her kitchen table staring at a cup of coffee. She was surprised that he was actually awake. For a while there she had mentally donned him Rip Van Winkle. "Hey I got your messages."

"Yeah but you still didn't feel like calling me back?" Luke snapped.

She clicked her tongue and then let out a resigned sigh. "I was in the middle of something."

"Oh yeah was it with Christopher?"

"No it wasn't. I was with Rory. I apologized for my actions." Lorelai ignored the harshness in his tone when asked her that last bit.

A crease immediately formed in the middle of Luke's forehead. "Why would you apologize? You did nothing but push her to go back to school and to stay away from the little prick Logan."

A few months ago this was the exact way she wanted him to feel about her choice. Now though after a lot of reflection she knew it was the wrong way to feel. "The thing is I not only pushed her towards school I also pushed her away. I made her choose between going to school and things being kosher between the two of us or her choosing to take time off and basically removing myself from her life. Plus you know Logan isn't as bad as we thought he was. Actually he's really nice. He loves her. You can tell he loves her. He also can give her the world and does his best to do so."

Luke just sat there not understanding where this sudden change in opinion had come from.

"Luke I have to know if you've picked a date. If you haven't then I'm not going to do this. I'm not going to just keep on truckin'. I want a date so that I can tell people to clear that day." Lorelai pleaded.

Luke closed her eyes. Couldn't she see that he wasn't ready? Couldn't she see that this wasn't the right time for him? He shook his head instead of saying no. When he opened his eyes he could see she was crying. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head and made her way upstairs. She pulled out her cell phone as she threw a few things into an overnight bag.

Emily Gilmore was sleeping deeply when her phone began to ring. Her heart pounded loudly as she feared that something had happened to Richard who was on his way back from Barcelona. "Hello?"

"Mom, it's me." Lorelai said in a defeated tone.

Emily looked at her clock and groaned. She was surprised that Lorelai would call so late. Especially considering how frosty things were between the two of them presently. "Lorelai is everything okay?" She was still nervous but not nearly as much as she had been before.

Lorelai could always count on her mother to worry about her. "Can I stay at the house with you tonight?"

Emily was surprised by the question. "Are you sure? I mean you realize Rory is still saying in the pool house correctly? Has something happened?"

Lorelai zipped up the bag and headed downstairs towards her car. She couldn't be here with him tonight. She wouldn't do it. "Rory and I made up today. Luke and I have broken up Mom. I need somewhere to stay."

"Of course you can stay here Lorelai. This will always be your home. You still know the code to the alarm don't you?" Emily was honored that Lorelai would want to stay with her tonight.

Lorelai saw Luke standing by the door. "That I do. I'll be there in twenty minutes or so. Thank you for this." Lorelai hung up her phone and put in back in her pocket. "I'd like your stuff to be gone by the time I come back tomorrow."

Luke couldn't believe she was doing this. "So this is it. We're over. You're going to throw everything we have down the drain just because I can't set a date?"

"Don't fucking down play the fact that you won't set a date. We are over because Luke if you loved me then you would have married me the night I asked you. The only real love I've ever experienced I experienced when I was still a girl." Lorelai told him calmly. "So we're over. I'll see you around." Lorelai opened the door and then got into her car. She sat there for a second just fighting the urge to sob. Finally she cranked the engine and drove back to Hartford.

Emily was sitting by the front door waiting for her when she heard Lorelai pull into the drive. She listened to the front door open and she heard Lorelai punch in the familiar code. "I'm in here Lorelai."

Lorelai dropped her bad beside the entrance to the parlor and then walked over to where her mother was now standing. She smiled when she saw her mother had her arms open ready for a hug. She walked into the hug and let out a weak laugh.

"What?"

Lorelai couldn't help but smile at the situation. "I just never thought that the first time I would run to my mommy I would be in my late thirties."

Okay so that was yet another update. I bet you couldn't believe that I updated so quickly. I really liked this chapter because I thought it was very angsty. You see I am a soap opera fan so I love drama and I love incorporating all of the characters I can. I hope you liked it. Review please! Thanks!


	18. Life Seemed Brighter

So here is some Rogan and a little bit more. I loved all of the reviews. You guys are so great. You really know how to make a girl feel special! Thanks for reading. Enjoy!

Her blue eyes fluttered open only to see that he was in the middle of trying to find his right shoe. She grinned a bit at how amazing his ass currently looked in the khakis he was wearing. She knew he wasn't aware that she was awake yet so she quietly reached over and pinched it. She chuckled at the way he popped up and yelped. "Morning."

"I would have preferred a kiss to start my day." He paused to let her gently kiss him. "Still I'll settle for any type of action I can get."

Rory sat up and slipped into her robe. "What are you doing up before seven?" Logan was never up before eight on the mornings when he had class. On the weekends she was lucky to see his eyes before nine.

Logan frowned when she hid her beautifully proportioned body with her robe. "I prefer you in a more natural state." He admitted before pulling her close and kissing her again. "I have a meeting with the Dark Lord at 8:30."

Rory nodded and grabbed his shoe from behind her laundry hamper where he had tossed it last night. "Why?" She asked as she made her way from the bedroom to the kitchen where she smelled a pot of her favorite Jamaican coffee. She poured herself a cup and savored the first swallow as if it were going to be the last time she ever got a cup of the good stuff.

Logan couldn't help but smirk at her and shake his head as he sat down in a chair to tie his shoelaces. "He wants to discuss London and go over a few reports with me."

"Sounds oh so interesting." Rory joked as she finished her first cup of the day.

Logan stood up and grinned as he made his way towards her. "If only it actually were. Are you going to start planning things out on the yacht today?"

Rory shook her head no. "I have to meet with caterers all day today. You see while you go over reports with the fuehrer I get to eat and eat and did I mention eat." Rory gave him this oh don't you wish we could change places look.

"I should head out." Logan told her with a sigh.

Rory looked at his outfit suspiciously. "You are wearing that to the office?"

Logan looked down at his khakis, olive green turtleneck, and sneakers. He was only wearing it to get under Mitchum's skin. "Mitchum is going to love it."

"You're awful." She kissed him softly on the lips.

Logan gave her a wink and then grabbed a couple of things before telling her goodbye. He threw a couple of his books onto the passenger seat and started to get in. He stopped though when he saw her rush out the door in her robe. He couldn't help but smirk. She didn't want him to leave without a goodbye kiss. "Yes Ace." He could hide the coy smile that so desperately wanted to play on his lips.

"I didn't get to give you a goodbye kiss." She explained just before kissing him gently on the lips. "Now you can go."

"I'll drop in around noon to have lunch with you." He told her before slowly starting to get into his car. He stuck his head out the window. "Sadly I must walk into the fiery gates of hell." He cranked his engine and then slowly backed out of the driveway.

Lorelai walked into the kitchen only to find Emily watching the whole exchange with a small smile on her face. She was surprised to say the least that her mother wasn't the least bit alarmed that Logan was staying with Rory in the pool house. Emily had never been one to be understanding when it came to adult matters of that sort. "Were you aware that Logan stayed with Rory there?"

Emily turned around and nodded. "Of course I was. It's hard to miss his Porsche in the back driveway."

"When did this happen?" Lorelai asked dubiously. Her mother had never been one to let someone make their own decisions. There were plenty of times when Emily felt she had a better grip on Rory's or Lorelai's decisions than either of them had.

Emily wasn't surprised that Lorelai found her answer a bit out of the ordinary. She hadn't been a big fan of Lorelai making her own decisions ever. "Logan and Rory are very much in love. It's obvious in little moments like the one we just witnessed. It's not up to me to decide how Rory spends her free time in the pool house and who she chooses to spend it with."

Lorelai looked back at the spot were Logan's car had been just mere moments ago and smiled. It seemed as though Rory wasn't the only person to change in the few months that the fight had gone on. Emily Gilmore had in fact mellowed out. "So do you think it's crazy that I still love Christopher?" She asked quietly.

"Lorelai there are a lot of things you say and do that I find absolutely puzzling but not this. Francine and I always knew you and Christopher would end up together. The only time I ever thought that maybe we would be wrong is when Rory informed me of your previously pending engagement. I don't know. I think Christopher is the only person who really knows you." Emily had stayed up with Lorelai for at least two hours last night listening to all of the painful details of her daughter's recent breakup. In end it only reinforced her suspicion that Lorelai was always meant to marry Christopher Hayden. He was her first and only true love.

Rory walked back into the pool house and couldn't help but feel content. Logan had this uncanny ability to make her feel warm and fuzzy. It was like dating a walking talking Disney movie. She walked into her bedroom and started to pick out an outfit to wear to work today. She sighed though when she heard her cell phone ring. She picked up the irritation contraption and answered it. "Rory Gilmore."

"Did you know your mother was in the main house Ace?" Logan asked curiously. He had seen her Jeep in the front drive when he was backing out this morning.

Rory paused and frowned slightly. "No, I didn't. How do you know she's here?"

"I passed her car when I was backing out of the drive this morning." Logan said as he fiddled with his heater. He was pretty sure Rory didn't know she was there. He would have thought she would have rushed over there first thing this morning if she had been aware of the fact.

"Okay well thanks for the heads up." Rory said as she walked over to the intercom ready to use it for the first time. Normally it was Emily he used the device to talk to Rory out here. "I love you Logan."

"I love you too Ace. I'll see you for lunch."

Rory pressed the green button and spoke into the white device. "Morning Grandmother."

Emily was a bit startled but pleased that Rory was actually using the intercom. "Morning Rory, are you coming to the main house for breakfast?"

"Yes I am. I was just wondering is my Mother there?"

Lorelai couldn't believe that there was actually an intercom that connected the main house to the pool house. Okay so she could believe it. Still she never imagined that Rory would actually use the impersonal object. "Morning Kid."

"I'll be there in a couple of minutes. I'll have to ask that you excuse my robe." Rory said and then she went to make sure she didn't look crazy before going to the main house. As soon as she walked in she could see that it had been a long night for her mother and grandmother. She knew what that meant. She walked over to her mother and did the first thing she could think of. She hugged her and whispered softly in her ear that she hoped her heart didn't hurt too badly.

"Thanks Kid." Lorelai needed to know that Rory would really be okay with her decision. "So where did Logan rush off to?"

Rory blushed a bit. She hated discussing such a private matter. "He had to go to work for Mitchum today."

"Poor Logan." Emily couldn't help but admit. "Is he going to stop by for lunch?"

Lorelai couldn't help but feel like an outsider at this table. She never thought her mother would become somewhat friends with Rory. The two of them talked about her upcoming event as if they were planning it together. Still she was happy that they had found solace in each other all this time. "Well I hate to eat and run but I do have to head back to Stars Hollow. Thank you for everything last night Mom." Lorelai did the unthinkable and actually willingly hugged her mother. "I'll see you in the next couple of days okay Rory." She hugged her only daughter and then she left. All she could think was that life seemed brighter for everyone.

Rory looked at her Grandmother curiously once her mother had departed.

Emily sighed. "She stayed her last night because she kicked Luke out. She didn't want to stay in the same house as him. Surprisingly she came to me. We talked. She's going back to your father."

Rory smiled at the thought of her parents together. "Is she going to be okay?"

"I think so. I think it's the first time in a long time that she feels as though life is good. I think for a while she wasn't in the best place. It's finally going to be the way it was supposed to be." Emily replied rather wistfully. Lorelai was going to marry Christopher just like she was supposed to.

"It took long enough." Rory said before taking a bite of her waffles. "As long as nothing goes wrong." She added as an afterthought.

Emily scoffed and shook her head. "God wouldn't be that cruel."

Okay so that was the update. I added some Rogan just to keep people from dying. I wanted to get that moment between the three of them out of the way. I promise there is going to be a lot more Rogan next chapter. Oh and maybe even a character will appear that will make things a little complicated for our favorite couple. Who knows…Oh wait I do. Thank you for reading. Please review!


	19. A Little Lie

I decided to do what a reviewer asked me to do and I didn't make this a dramatic chapter. I started a dramatic one and then decided to scrap it. Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy! Thank you to everyone who reviewed! You always make my mornings!

Rory walked into the pool house only to find that Logan was already there and was wearing a suit and tie. She looked at him and groaned. She had a feeling that he was going to ask her to come with him wherever he was going. Along with that feeling came the idea that she was probably underdressed. "Why are you getting dressed? I thought I told you I wanted you to be naked in this bed waiting for me when I came home from work."

Logan smirked as he finished tying his tie. "Oh Ace if only that was really the way you felt." Logan bent down and gently kissed her. He then pulled her up from the bed and forced her to dance around the room with him. All the while he sang softly in her ear.

"I ran into Dean today." She told him quietly. His girlfriend had been the last caterer that she had interviewed today.

Logan stopped dancing and looked at her curiously. "When and where?"

She shook her head. "First why are you getting dressed?"

"I thought we could go out for a nice meal tonight. We haven't gone out to a nice candlelit meal in forever." Logan explained.

Rory couldn't help but smile at his thoughtful actions. "Okay. Well his girlfriend was the last caterer I interviewed today. The one who came in as you were leaving."

Logan watched her closely to make sure that she was okay. He could tell she was tired of running into her ex-boyfriends. "And did it go okay?"

"It went fine. He was polite. I was polite. We were both so polite it was suffocating. It made me want a nice stiff drink." Rory paused to take a deep breath. "And then I lied."

"What did you lie about?" Logan asked her cautiously. He had a feeling that the lie was the reason she seemed so out of it tonight.

Rory licked her lips before she spoke. Her throat felt dry. She just hoped this didn't make him mad or scare him. "I told him about you. He asked if we were serious. I said that we were living together and practically engaged."

Logan couldn't help but let out a small laugh. He had been worried that she had denied his existence or said that they were on the rocks. "I don't see where you lied."

"Well I mean you have a penthouse in New Haven and technically that is your primary residence." Rory was relieved that he wasn't mad that she had said that they were practically engaged. She didn't want Logan to think that she was rushing things or that she expected them to get married. That wasn't too say she wasn't hoping that they would get married one day.

Logan nodded and then shrugged. "First I spend way more time here than I do at that place even though yes you are correct it is my primary residence. Second I figured you would move in with me when you went back to Yale."

Rory froze. Had he just asked her to move in with him? No it was more like he expected her to move in with him. She looked at him to see if this was what he really wanted. "Is this your way of asking me to move in with you?"

"Yeah it is." Logan said softly. He grabbed her hands and brought them close. "I really want you to move in with me Rory. So what do you say?"

Rory took a deep breath and then she smiled. "Yes. I say yes."

Logan brought her hands to his face and placed gently kisses all over them. He couldn't have been happier. He loved the way things were progressing with Rory. Truth be told he was quietly starting to consider maybe even asking her to consider maybe marrying him. Still he was keeping that consideration quiet. "So are we still going to go to dinner?"

Rory stood up from the bed and nodded furiously. "Yeah just let me change out of this outfit. This is my eating skirt." She joked and then she disappeared into her closet.

Logan leaned back and closed his eyes. She drove him crazy. He couldn't have found a better first girlfriend. He was in the middle of thinking about her when he heard someone knock on the front door. "Ace you want me to get that?"

"Please do." She called from the closet where she was trying to decide between the brown Yves Saint Laurent dress or the black Ralph Lauren dress.

Logan opened the door and found someone he didn't recognize standing on the other side. If this was another one of Rory's ex-boyfriends she wasn't going to be pleased to see him. "Can I help you?"

"You must be Logan Huntzberger. My name is Jamie Davis. I'm sure Rory's has referred to me as Paris' ex-boyfriend." Jamie said as he extended his hand to the other man.

Logan was pleased to hear that for once it wasn't Rory's ex-boyfriend standing there. "Oh you're right about. Come on in. She's just getting changed."

Jamie took in Logan's suit. "Oh did I interrupt your plans?"

"Not really. We have reservations but you must know how it is."

"You drop a last name and they overlook your tardiness." Jamie completed for him. As a Davis he often experienced the star treatment when he was eating in Boston. His grandfather had been Mayor for nearly fifteen years until he suffered a stroke and stepped down from the position. "Have we met before?" Jamie had this suspicion that this wasn't his first time running into Logan.

Logan looked at him for a second. "I went to half a dozen boarding schools for high school."

Then it dawned on Jamie. "Andover. I think you were a year behind me."

"Wait was your sister Bethany Davis?"

"Yeah but now she's," Jamie stopped though because Logan interrupted him.

"She's Bethany McRae. Your sister married my best friend's older brother."

Jamie grinned. "Yeah she is. You must be talking about Colin. I have to know is he dating that girl yet."

Logan rolled his eyes and nodded. "They have finally become more than just "friends". So you dated Paris huh?"

"Not only did I date Paris but I actually want to get back together with Paris. I'll give you a moment to wrap your head around that one." Jamie joked. He was used to people being shocked that he was dating her. She wasn't what people would consider to be his type. Before her he went for your usual society girls. They were the kind who cared more about their debutante ball than their SAT scores.

Rory walked into the living room wearing the black dress. She smiled as soon as she saw Jamie. She rushed over to where he was sitting and gave him a hug. It had been so long since she had seen him. The last time had been a bit awkward. "I heard your lunch date went beautifully."

Jamie blushed and nodded. "I didn't mean to intrude on you two or anything I just wanted to see if I could buy a seat for the event you are throwing next weekend."

"Does this have anything to do with the fact that you know Paris is going to be there?"

"Paris is going?" Jamie pretended that he didn't already know that.

Rory rolled her eyes and smiled. "Of course you can get a seat. You just need to mail the check to the D.A.R. offices and once it clears we'll send you your ticket."

"Is the boyfriend going with her?" He asked slowly.

Rory had to think for a minute and then shook her head no. "I don't think so. He's not really in the Hartford inner circle if you know what I mean."

Jamie couldn't stop a smile from forming on his lips. He stood up. "Well then I guess I'll be going. It was nice meeting you again Logan. Tell Colin I said finally we were all tired of hearing his excuses. Rory it's always lovely to see you."

After Jamie was gone Rory looked at Logan curiously. "He knows Colin?"

"His sister married Colin's older brother." Logan couldn't believe that the same Jamie Davis he went to Andover with would date a girl like Paris. Still he never thought he would date a girl like Rory so what did he know.

"Oh."

Logan smirked at her lack of a response. "Are you ready for dinner?"

"I'm always ready to eat." Rory joked.

Logan wrapped his arm around her shoulder and then guided her out the door to his Porsche. Just before helping her get in he placed a gentle kiss on her lips. He sat there for a second just allowing his forehead to touch hers.

"What?" Rory asked quietly not daring to move her forehead.

Logan stood there trying to put his feelings into words. "I just I'm happy you chose me." Logan didn't say anything else for a second and then he continued. "I just I really love you Ace. I really do. I love you more than you could imagine."

"We've already gone over this before." She started.

"No." Logan said as he pulled back so that he could look in her the eyes. "I mean I really love you. I love you in that Tristan and Isolde kind of way. You know how he risked everything for the girl. I love you that way. If you told me to give up my inheritance and join you on a beach somewhere I would do it. I just I really love you."

Rory felt a single tear roll down her cheek.

Logan gently wiped the tear away with his thumb and then he kissed her. He kissed her until their need for oxygen became alarming. When he pulled away his breathing was ragged to say the least. Still all he could do was smile and then help her into the car. He sat down into the car next to her and cracked it on. He glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye when he was pulling out of the driveway and he could see that she had this satisfied kind of smile on her face. In typical Logan fashion he did what came natural and he smirked.

Man I thought about making it complicated and then I read a review that asked me not to. I decided that was better. I didn't really want to deal with anymore complications. I basically want to pair up my two favorite couples and then end this in romantic fashion. Thank you for reading. Please review! Thanks!


	20. Romanian and a Vegas Jam Session

With her dress bag in one hand and her brand new black stilettos in the other she gingerly made her way onto the yacht. For a moment she just stood there watching to make sure that everything was moving along smoothly. The bartenders were setting up. The tables were being put together. Her assistant was bossing people around as if she was Paris. All in all Rory felt that everything for just this one moment was right with the world. She made her way down into one of the cabins so she could hang up her dress and then get down to making sure that nothing went wrong. She was making her way past the room when she heard a familiar voice coming from the first cabin. She stopped and backed up. She let out a silent scream when she saw who was sitting on the bed talking on his cell phone. "I can't believe it's you!"

(A/N: Yes I am going to be cruel and force you to wait for a few more paragraphs to figure out who it is. Go ahead and try and guess. I bet you can't. And yes I am grinning quite evilly right now.)

Stephanie shook her head when she saw what Paris had picked out to wear to the event tonight. No matter how book smart Paris was she definitely lacked fashion sense. She walked into Paris' closet and let out a sigh of defeat after realizing that there was nothing in there that was appropriate. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her platinum Visa credit card. She grinned wickedly. "Let's make my Dad pay for not paying more attention to me when I was younger."

Paris just looked at her skeptically and then nodded. "You do realize we have exactly three hours before this shindig starts, right?" Paris asked dubiously as they made their way from her apartment to Stephanie's silver Volvo.

Stephanie looked back at Paris and winked. "Just trust me Par."

"Yeah that is definitely easier said than done." Paris muttered quietly under her breath.

(A/N: Not going to let you know who it is yet. Just a few more paragraphs.)

Colin gave Logan a bewildered look as she motioned to the young blonde that was sitting on his couch. He couldn't stop from frowning. "I have no idea what to do with her."

Logan shook his head and groaned. He couldn't believe they had to deal with this right this second. "Why can't she just go back to Robert's?"

"Corinne is visiting. He doesn't want her to see the woman he is keeping on the side." Colin couldn't believe his luck. He returned from class only to find Stephanie sitting on his couch looking especially pissed off. So pissed off that he silently muttered beam me up Scotty just to see if it would work.

Logan nodded and fought the urge to say well then I guess you're screwed. "Well why don't you just ask her if she wants to go home? I'm sure she misses wherever the hell she is from." If it weren't for the fact that he was being forced to help Colin solve this problem he definitely would have thought this was one funny situation. Alas he couldn't laugh because he was too wrapped up in trying to find a solution.

"I would if I could speak whatever the hell she speaks." Colin was deeply regretting falling head over heels for this milk maid. Okay not the falling head over heels part as much as the bringing her back to America with him part.

"I can't believe Stephanie didn't know. How could Stephanie not know?" Logan demanded.

Colin shrugged. He too had been wondering how Stephanie had been oblivious to Kirsten's presence. He thought everyone knew of the milk maid he brought home with him as a souvenir. "Your guess is as good as mine. I think at the time she was still dating Collier the med student at insert random boring Ivy league college."

"How does she not know any English?" Logan was fully aware that his questions weren't helping the situation. Still, he had to know how this girl could have been living in America for like four maybe even five months had yet to pick up any English.

Colin closed his eyes. "I can't believe I'm going to say this but we need Finn. He is the only person who can fix this."

Logan tried to think back to another moment Finn would have been helpful and all he could think of is that Finn would be helpful if they were trying to decide what brand of beer they wanted to buy. "His plane should have landed by now."

Colin nodded and pulled out his cell phone. He held down the number three button on his phone and prayed that Finn was not only in the area but was also sober. He almost said whoopee when he heard Finn's accent on the other line. "Where are you?"

Finn looked around at his surroundings. "I'm in my living room."

Colin let out a sigh of relief. "I need you to be here in like the next ten minutes."

"Why?" Finn was in the middle of watching his soaps with Anne Marie who much to his delight had brought some tapes with her. He hated missing his soaps.

"I need you to convince Kirsten to go back home." Colin told him rather impatiently.

Finn rolled his eyes as he paused the tape. "Put her on the phone."

Colin wasn't sure if this was going to work or not but he decided to do as Finn requested. He handed Kirsten the phone and sure enough she understood exactly what to do. Then again he was sure even milk maids used the telephone. What surprised him more than her grabbing the phone was the fact that she began to chat on it in some sort of weird language with Finn. After a few minutes she looked at Colin and then said something to Finn. Once she was done she handed the phone back to Colin and then went to grab her bag out of his closet. "How did you do that?"

"Well it turns out we both speak Romanian. She's ready to go back to her country. She just needs a ride to the airport and for you to buy her ticket. She said she was tired of being passed off to all of your friends and is rather resentful of Robert."

"Why?" Colin asked curiously.

Finn snorted. "It's Robert. He makes people resentful the way I make girls melt."

Colin decided not to question his friend on the bold statement. He told Finn thanks and then he hung up the phone.

"What just happened?" Logan asked quietly.

"Finn convinced her to go home in Romanian. I'm going to take her to the airport. I'll see you later tonight?"

"Yeah you will." Logan agreed rather absentmindedly. All he could think was why in the world did Finn speak Romanian. He sure this had to do with a redhead.

(A/N: Okay that was a lot of paragraphs but at least they were amusing.)

The man looked up from his guitar in shock. He couldn't believe his eyes. "Rory?"

"Dave!" Rory squealed as she made her way into the cabin. It had been at least three years since the last time she had seen Dave Rygalski, the love of Lane's life. "What in the world are you doing here?"

Dave laughed and shook his head. "You aren't going to believe me when I tell you."

"Try me." Rory felt the sudden urge to call Lane and tell her to get her butt down her pronto.

"Last year I went to Vegas with a couple of friends of mine. We figured we would gamble and blow off a little steam after midterms. Somehow I ended up in a hotel room doing a jam session with the bassist from Guns, the drummer from Ratt, and the keyboardist from Barry Manillow's show. So after the jam session the keyboardist tells me that Barry is looking to hire a new guitarist for his backup band and that I may think about trying out. So I did. Fast forward a year and I have officially dropped out of college and now spend my time chilling with Barry Manillow." Dave watched Rory closely to see what she was thinking.

Rory bit her lip and fought the urge to laugh. "That is one of the craziest things I've ever heard." Rory had thought she had heard her fill of crazy stories after hanging out with Logan, Colin, and Finn. Still it was hard to top a late jam session in Vegas with men who made the eighties what they were.

Dave nodded and shrugged. He knew it was crazy but it was just one of the many stories of his life since Stars Hollow. "So how did Rory Gilmore of Stars Hollow end up on a yacht like this?"

"Well I too have a crazy story." Rory started and then she told him all about the boat she tried stealing with Logan, her two hours in jail, her community service sentence, and so on and so forth. "And now I'm heading back to Yale so I decided to throw once last mega event. Nobody screams mega event quite like Barry."

Dave chuckled. "So uh how's Lane? Is she still rocking out on the drums?" His mind had gone straight to Lane when he saw Rory standing in the doorway to his room.

"Of course she is which is why she is doing really great right now. Still I better go up there and supervise. I'm sure something is going wrong by now. I'll see you later though okay?"

Dave nodded and watched her go. He looked down at his hand and realized that the person he had been talking to on his phone had hung up. He'd call them back later.

Rory closed her eyes as soon as she was in her room. She hung her dress up in the closet and fought the urge to jump up and down. Dave was still well Dave. She silently wondered why in the world all of the exes she could think of were showing up. Was this the universes' way of setting things right? She pulled her cell phone out of her back pocket and scrolled her phone book for a familiar number. She fought the urge to bite her fingernails as she waited for the person on the other end of the line to pick up.

Lane placed her drumsticks on the kitchen counter and then grabbed the phone. "Hello."

"Lane?"

Lane smiled. "Hey Rory."

"Lane, I need to ask you a quick question."

Lane silently wondered why in the world Rory was being so weird. "Okay."

"How are things with you and Zach?" Rory asked tentatively. She wasn't going to tell Lane about Dave if things were going good with Zach. She wasn't going to cause trouble for no reason.

Lane frowned. "We're on a break right now because he's becoming such a diva. Why?"

"Lane I'm going to be sending a cab to your apartment tonight. It'll be there by 6:15. I want you to get into your nicest dress. I'm talking fancy. I'll see you when you get here." Rory struggled to contain her excitement.

"Rory, what's with all the secrecy?"

Rory grinned. "Just go with the flow okay Lane. Be ready for the cab when it gets there okay?"

"Okay Rory."

"Bye Lane."

Lane took a deep breath. She hated it when Rory did things like this. "Bye Rory."

"Rory we need you up here like now." Jeanette was having a problem figuring out where to store all of the extra liquor they had ordered for the evening. She hated being in charge.

Rory nodded and followed Jeanette. As soon as she got up there she realized why Jeanette said they needed her. Just as she predicted things were becoming hectic. "Mandy I want you to start putting out the place cards according to the seating chart. Remember we can't have any mistakes because the last thing we need is the ex- Mrs. Davenport next to the new Mrs. Davenport." Rory told a meek blonde quickly as she rushed to another spot where she was needed. She made her way behind the bar and gave them a nod of approval at the way they had set up. "Remember I want enough room on that dance floor for when Barry sings Unchained Melody." She barked at the people who were setting up the table.

Logan watched as she morphed into Emily Gilmore. He had to admit it was kind of sexy the way her cheeks flushed when she was angry about something. He knew he shouldn't have come her to distract her but for some reason he just had to see her. He made his way over to where she was. "Miss Gilmore I was wondering if I could have a moment of your time." He whispered in her ear.

His breath sent shivers up and down her spine. She couldn't ignore the tingly feeling that had suddenly appeared in her stomach. She turned around to meet his eyes. "What are you doing here?" She asked after giving him a small kiss. She didn't realize that Dean was watching the scene.

"I just wanted to see you before the event started. I know you're going to be running around her like a chicken with her head cut off. I also wanted to make sure you didn't need anything." Logan felt a little embarrassed by his inability to go very long without seeing her. He knew that if Colin and Finn were here they would have only one adjective to describe him, whipped.

Rory took a second to think whether or not she had forgotten anything back at the pool house. She had panty hose. She had her slip. She had her dress. She had her curling iron. She had her shoes. Shit she didn't have the number for a cab company or a ticket for Lane. "I need two things."

"Name them."

"First I need you to send a cab to my friend Lane's place in Stars Hollow. Her address is in my address book in my desk in the pool house. It's Lane Kim. I need said cab to bring her here. Second I need you to buy her a ticket. There should be at least three tickets left at the pool house. Just leave a check or something in the envelope where the tickets are." Rory couldn't believe she was asking or rather telling him to drop a thousand bucks just so Lane could reconnect with Dave. Society had definitely taken its toll on Rory.

Logan smirked. "Is that all?"

Rory nodded.

"What do I get in return for such requests?" Logan asked playfully.

Rory pretended to have to think for a minute. "I'll let you fantasize what it would be like to spend a romantic night with Star Jones."

Logan couldn't stop his face from contorting into a look of disgust.

Rory laughed. "Or you could get this." She then placed a soft kiss on his lips. "And the knowledge that tonight I'll be slightly drunk and definitely interested in a little romance."

"I like that one better." Logan kissed her one more time and then winked at Jeanette before leaving. He turned around briefly and caught her fussing about the type of plates the china rental company had delivered.

So that was the update. I hope you liked it. I've been a little sick lately which is why I haven't updated. I hope it was worth the wait. I added just a little Rogan at the end to tide all of you over. I'll try to update again soon. Thanks for reading. Review!


	21. Ravishing Girls and Debonair Guys

The way the Pucci dress she was wearing hugged every last one of her curves made Christopher a little weak in the knees as he watched her descend the staircase as if it was her debutante ball. He had never imagined she would ever be heading downstairs toward his open arms ever again. The fact that he had gotten a second chance at being in love with her was surprising to say the least. The way the events unfolded at Richard and Emily's vow renewal had him thinking that there was no way she would ever want to go back to the way things were when they were in high school and deeply in love. And then everything changed. His dreams came true.

_Christopher was in the middle of doing some work when the phone started ringing. He thought about just letting Monica answer it but then he remembered that she was giving Gigi a bath. He ran his hand over his face and then he answered the phone, "Hello"._

_She cleared her throat a little before saying anything. "It's me." She had been standing outside his house in the pouring rain for the last twenty minutes because she couldn't work up the nerve it took to ring his doorbell. _

"_Hey Lorelai, is everything okay?" The simple sound of her voice made him happy that he had decided to answer the phone._

_Lorelai took a deep breath. "I'm standing outside your house."_

_Christopher looked out the window and frowned a little when he saw the rain pouring down. "Why are you standing outside in the rain?"_

_Lorelai let out a small laugh. "I don't know."_

_Christopher got up from his desk and made his way to the front door. He was prepared to go outside to her if she wasn't going to come inside to him. "Are you sure you don't know?"_

"_I do know. I just can't bring myself to come inside and tell you."_

_Christopher opened the front door and smiled as he hung up the phone. "Well then I guess it's a good thing I'm willing to come out here." He shivered a little as the rain started to soak his clothes._

_Lorelai smiled and nodded. For some reason the way he was looking at her made her feel like a little girl. "I broke up with Luke." Her voice was so quiet she wondered if he had been able to hear her._

_Christopher wasn't sure what the appropriate response was. "Yeah?" _

"_Yeah I broke up with Luke and I was thinking that maybe we could try again." Her face was now inches from his. She could feel his breath on her skin. She was sure that if she closed her eyes she would be able to feel him blink. _

_This time Christopher knew the appropriate response. He closed the little distance that was between them and then kissed her as if they were still sixteen and the most complicated part of their day was Chemistry. When he pulled away he gently pushed a strand of her wet hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. _

"_Was that a yes we can try again?" She smiled and let out a little moan as he kissed her again._

_Christopher just grinned at her and nodded. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him. He hugged her and kissed the top of her head. "We should go inside before one of us catches a cold."_

She fought the urge to blush when her eyes met his as she reached the final step. She gave him a flirtatious wink. "You like?"

Chris didn't say anything he just gave her a little nod. How any man could give up Lorelai was beyond him? Luke was a dumb man for not marrying her the night she proposed.

She smiled and gently pecked his cheek before kissing him softly on the lips. Her mother was somewhere around her and the last thing she needed was for her mother to catch them kissing. "You look pretty good yourself."

"Well I would think you liked it since you did pick it out." Chris pointed out. Lorelai had shown up at his home three days ago carrying a garment bag with a Ralph Lauren suit in it.

Emily walked into the room and saw how wonderfully Christopher and Lorelai meshed. She clapped her hands together and smiled broadly before calling Francine in the room. When Francine walked in she had nearly the same reaction. "Heaven help me you two look as wonderful together as you did when you were teenagers."

"Don't forget they look just as much in love too." Emily added. She had waited so long for her daughter to finally find happiness.

Lane fidgeted with the hem of her dress what she figured had to have been the millionth time. She looked at herself in the mirror and wished that Rory was here to tell her whether or not she looked appropriate for the surprise. She let out a sigh of relief when she heard a knock on the front door. She snatched her purse off of the bed and then rushed to the door before Brian could annoy the driver. She was surprised when she opened it and saw Frank standing there in his simple black suit. "Frank!"

"Miss Kim, you look lovely." Frank had jumped at the chance to drive Miss Kim to the event. He thought her and Miss Gilmore were just too cute.

"Frank, what did I say about calling me Miss Kim?" Lane asked with a grin. Being called Miss made her feel old.

Frank smiled and sighed. "I know I'm sorry. Are you ready, Lane?"

Lane smiled and nodded. "Bye Brian! Don't wait up!" She called over her shoulder as she allowed Frank to escort her to the car. "I've always wanted to do that." She admitted sheepishly as she allowed him to guide her down the stairs.

"Oh and before you ask I've been instructed to stay mum about the surprise." Frank told her before shutting the car door.

Lane wasn't surprised that Frank had been forced into secrecy. She smiled and leaned back. She wasn't going to stress herself out thinking about what was waiting for her at the end of this long ride.

Paris walked onto the ship wearing the simple green dress that Stephanie had picked out for her. She pulled the shawl she was wearing tighter around her shoulders as she made her way into the party. She dreaded the thought of having to mingle. Paris Gellar was definitely not a mingler. She was so caught up in the fear of having to mingle that she didn't even notice the handsome guy making his way through the crowd towards her.

Jamie was awestruck at the sight of Paris in the dress she was wearing. It was definitely not something she would have picked out for herself but she wore it well. He took a moment to breath before making his way towards her. He wasn't sure what he would say when he reached her. All he knew was that he had to reach her.

She looked up the moment she felt him gazing at her. She smiled in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"What can I say I'm a closet Fanillow?" Jamie joked lamely.

Paris just snickered and shook her head. She took in the sight of him in the tuxedo he was wearing and found herself smile. He wore it well. He was so sturdy looking. Paris was in the middle of trying to think of something witty to say when she heard the familiar sound of Stephanie making her way across the room. She closed her eyes and tried to hide the cringe that was coming on. Stephanie was going to make a big deal. She knew it.

"Paris Gellar where the hell have you been I've been looking all over this damn yacht for you!" Stephanie said as she marched across the ship. She stopped marching when she realized that Paris wasn't alone. "Oh I didn't realize you were chatting with someone."

Jamie smiled at the blonde. This must have been Colin's girl. "Hi."

Paris turned around and faced Stephanie who seemed surprise at how cute and normal looking Jamie was. "Sorry Stephanie I was just catching up with someone. Stephanie Lancaster this is Jamie Davis."

Stephanie was still in shock. Her face didn't show it but she was still in shock. She looked at Jamie and then she looked at Paris. She shook his hand and gave him a polite smile. "Well I'll let you two get back to your conversation. It was nice to meet you Jamie. Doesn't Paris look absolutely ravishing?"

"That she does." Jamie agreed.

Paris was nervous that her cheeks were reddening by the second. She slowly placed her hand on her cheek to see if it felt warmer than usual. She watched as Stephanie sashayed away. She turned back to Jamie and just smiled. His hand was outstretched so he could lead her to their table. She accepted it and didn't even think twice about the fact that he was the leader and she was the follower. Paris normally hated being a follower but in that instant she knew she would follow Jamie anyway.

Logan sipped his bourbon and scoured the boat for any sign of her chestnut brown hair. He hated not knowing where she was. It made him feel urgent and needy. Logan shook his head at the mere thought that Rory Gilmore had turned him into a needy sap. He was in the middle of sipping when he felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned around and smirked. "Oh, hi Ace." Logan greeted her rather casually before pecking her on the cheek.

Rory rolled her eyes and playfully hit him in the shoulder. "Don't even try to place innocent with me mister. I saw you looking for me. You looked like a little kid lost in Wal-Mart." Rory paused. "Still, I must admit it was rather cute."

"You think?" Logan asked sheepishly.

Rory nodded. "I know."

"You look absolutely amazing." Logan whispered as he pulled her close.

His warm breath on her skin gave her the chills. Rory concluded that love had to be in the air. There was just something about the way the air felt. "It doesn't hurt that I also have the cutest date on this yacht."

Logan shook his head at her.

"What?" She asked rather innocently.

Logan laughed a bit before speaking. "I was just thinking that my charm must be rubbing off on you."

Rory shook her head as if that was the silliest thing she had ever heard. "You wish."

Dave stepped out of his cabin and made his way to the stage. He still needed to tune his guitar before the show started. There was something about how cool the air was that made him miss the days when he would stand outside Lane's window and talk to her when she was supposed to be doing her homework. Lane. He thought about her all the time. It was always the random things: Buddy Holly, Weezer, Koreans, and of course bible passages. They all made him think of the one girl who got him. Of course there had been other girls since Lane. He'd heard about her and Zach which pushed him to find a replacement just like she had. Of course there wasn't a single girl who he would call a proper substitute for the one and only Lane Kim. He wondered if he should call her and tell her he was in town. He shook his head as he started to tune his guitar a little. That was the dumbest idea he had ever had.

Lane watched as the car slowly pulled to a stop in front of the most massive boat she had ever seen with her own eyes. It reminded her of the kind that rappers had in all of the videos. She fought the urge to quietly hum Big Pimpin'. She wasn't sure whether or not she really wanted to get out of the car. She wasn't sure about what was waiting for her on that boat. Frank seemed sure enough for the two of them though when he opened her door and basically forced her out. He pushed her a little towards the boat. She was just about to step onto the ship when she turned around. "Keep going Lane!" Frank called to her. She used her best posture and then made her way onto the boat. She immediately started searching for Rory. She had to be here somewhere. She was in the middle of searching when she recognized a mess of brown curls. She stared at the person owning the curls and wondered why they were so familiar. She wouldn't look away until the person tuning the guitar looked up. After staring for an uncomfortable amount of time she decided to look away but not before catching a glimpse of the person's face. She froze. The reason Rory had invited her here was clear. This couldn't be a coincidence. She wasn't sure what to do. Maybe she could just walk away and pretend this whole thing had never happened and she had never seen him. Then the worse thing that could happen happened. He looked up and made eye contact with her. In two seconds flat she returned to being the same lovesick teenager she had been when she first met him.

Dave didn't know what prompted him to look up but he was glad he had. He could sense that she was nervous. Somehow he still had that ability. He stood up and made his way across the floor. He needed to talk to her. He had been the one to walk away from then and move to a new less exciting life. It was his job to let her know that he knew he was the one who made this mistake. "Hi." That was all he could manage when he was standing in front of her.

He seemed lankier than she had remembered him being. She tried to think of something mature and sophisticated to say but instead squeaked out a "Hi."

Dave sensed that this conversation wasn't going to be smooth like the ones when they had first met. "How have you been?"

Lane wasn't sure about this. He seemed so calm and secure. How could he seem so calm and secure? There were butterflies in her stomach and something in the digestive system was presently doing back flips or somersaults or maybe both. "I've been doing pretty well. And you?"

"I can't complain. Just in case you were wondering why I'm here I'm in Barry's backup band." Dave felt kind of embarrassed when he said that last bit. He was sure Lane hadn't sold out.

Lane nodded. She wanted to know more about that, but she had to know something first. Why did he just calling? Why did the letters just stop coming? Why had he just given up on them? She opened her mouth to ask more about the band, but that wasn't the question that tumbled out. "You just stopped calling."

"What?"

Lane was sure he had heard her but was just too shocked to see anything else so she repeated her statement. "You just stopped calling."

"Whenever we talked it was always the band this and the band that and Zach this and Zach that. I just thought the best thing I could do for us was to let you move on."

"By breaking my heart?"

Dave shook his head. "It wasn't like that Lane. It broke my heart too. I can't talk right now. The first set is just about to start." Dave started to walk away. He stopped and turned back around. "I still love you Lane." He whispered just loud enough for her to hear and then he took his seat on the stage, but not before whispering something to Barry. Barry nodded and then the show started.

That was the update. I know you have to be furious because it took so long. It was just such a hard chapter to write. Then school started and life got so complicated. Life is just so busy and hectic. I feel terrible for holding out on you so long. I hope you liked it. I'm glad to be done with this chapter. I think the next chapter will be short. I'm not sure. I can't promise when it'll be done. All I can ask is for you to please review and keep reading.


	22. Hey there Lane

Barry finished his song and smiled out at the crowd. He loved performing in intimate settings like this. "Well tonight I have a very special treat for you." Barry started and then looked back at Dave and winked. "I have a very talented backup band. I'd like to think they are the best backup band around right now. Anyway about a year ago a very special young man joined the band. His name is David Rygalski and he's from around here." Barry let that sink in for a second. "Tonight David is going to perform a song for you." Barry turned back and motioned for Dave to come up front. "Let's give him a big round of applause."

Dave's heart was pounding in his chest as he made his way towards the front where Barry was standing. What if he bombed? It wouldn't help his case any if he bombed. No, it would just make Barry wary of his musical abilities. He sighed. It was too late to back out now, he guessed.

"Everyone this is David Rygalski and I'm sure you'll love him." Barry backed away and took a seat offstage.

Lorelai was at a loss for words. She wondered if Rory knew that Dave was in the band. "This is so big." She whispered to Christopher who was watching the stage intently.

"What is?" Christopher asked.

Lorelai wished Christopher had been around for more of the big moments. That way she wouldn't have to give him the shorthand version of why this was big. "That is Lane's first love up there performing. He left last year to go to school in California."

Christopher nodded. He knew it should have meant more to him. All he could do was say, "That does sound big."

Rory scanned the crowd to find Lane. She wanted to know how Lane was doing. Was she in a catatonic state? Rory smiled when she saw Lane smiling.

"So uh a few months ago we were doing this gig in Chicago it was for Oprah. Anyway it was day job so we had the night to ourselves. A friend of mine is the manager for the Plain White T's, so I went to their show, and then he introduced me to him. Anyway they have this song called Hey there Delilah and it reminded me of someone special. Well I changed the lyrics to fit my situation so here it goes. I call it Hey there Lane." Dave wondered how much rambling he had just done. He looked down at his guitar and started to strum.

_Hey there Lane  
What's it like in Stars Hollow?  
I'm three thousand miles away  
But girl tonight you look so pretty in memory  
Yes you do  
The California sun can't shine as bright as you  
I swear it's true_

Hey there Lane  
Don't you worry about the distance  
I'm right there if you get lonely  
Give that mix tape I made you another listen  
Close your eyes  
Listen to my voice it's my disguise  
I'm by your side

Oh it's what you do to me  
Oh it's what you do to me  
Oh it's what you do to me  
Oh it's what you do to me  
What you do to me

Hey there Lane  
I know times are getting hard  
But just believe me girl  
Someday we'll pay the bills with your sticks and my guitar  
We'll have it good  
We'll have the life we knew we would  
My word is good

Hey there Lane  
I've got so much left to say  
If every simple song I wrote to you  
Would take your breath away  
I'd write it all  
Even more in love with me you'd fall  
We'd have it all

Oh it's what you do to me  
Oh it's what you do to me  
Oh it's what you do to me  
Oh it's what you do to me

Three thousand miles seems pretty far  
But they've got planes and trains and cars  
I'd walk to you if I had no other way  
Our friends would all make fun of us  
and we'll just laugh along because we know  
That none of them have felt this way  
Lane I can promise you  
That by the time we get through  
The world will never ever be the same  
And you're to blame

Hey there Lane  
You be good and don't you miss me  
One more year and you'll be done with school  
And we'll be making history like we do  
You know it's all because of you  
We can do whatever we want to  
Hey there Lane here's to you  
This ones for you

Oh it's what you do to me  
Oh it's what you do to me  
Oh it's what you do to me  
Oh it's what you do to me  
What you do to me.

Once Dave was finished he looked up and smiled. It was the first time he had done something like that in a long time. He took a bow and when he looked up she was making her way towards the stage. As soon as they reached each other they shared a long kiss. When Lane pulled back she whispered softly "I love you too."

"Would you ever write me a song?" Rory asked Logan who was currently playing with her hair.

Logan sat silent for a moment. "Would it have to be a good one?"

"Not particularly."

"Then of course I would write you a song. I would take up aviation just to do skywriting for you if it was what you wanted. I would do it all…and then some more."

At first Rory thought Logan was joking but there was this look in his eye that said that he was dead serious and that was a comforting fact to Rory. "I'm not big on skywriting but you could landscape my bushes to spell out funny things or look like funny shapes. I'm very big on that."

"I'll start my apprenticeship with a landscaper A.S.A.P."

Colin pretended to gag at how cutesy the couple was. Finn and Anne Marie were arguing over wedding plans. Stephanie was watching Paris and Jamie rather intently. This left him to just sit there and drink. "One is the loneliest number that you've ever seen…" He was feeling rather obnoxious right about now.

"Aw hush up Colin." Anne Marie slurred. She loved open bars. She also loved Barry Manillow. "I'm putting something to a vote. Should we have a wedding at the Cape in June or a wedding in the mountains in December?" The two of them had been fighting about this for far too long. Their parents told them that no matter what they had to have a date and place picked out by the end of this week.

Rory smiled. "The two of us vote Cape, because I don't feel like risking getting trapped in the mountains for a wedding."

"Mountains, I love the mountains and that way we can get drunk and then go skiing for you the bachelor party and maybe you won't have to marry Finn after all because he won't survive the untimely tumble that he's sure to make." Colin joked.

Stephanie didn't want to take her eyes off of Jamie and Paris for a second. "Beach, because it's too cold in the mountains plus my Decembers are already booked."

Finn smiled triumphantly. "I win. The Cape in June it is."

Anne Marie pouted a bit, but a quick visit with her glass of Jose Cuervo made it much more acceptable. "Fine, but I get to pick the meal."

Rory wanted to stay at the table and enjoy this, but she knew she had to go up there and make her speech, before Barry started his final set. She couldn't believe that this was the end. She kissed Logan softly on the cheek before making her way to the front. She winked at Dave and Logan who were quietly enjoying each other's company. They were proof that love doesn't fade. She stood up there in front of the microphone and watched as everyone enjoyed themselves. "Excuse me everyone I just wanted to say a few things before Barry started his final set. First how lucky are we to be here tonight. I mean this is the chance of a lifetime. For the last six months or so this has been my life. I've planned these events and watched as people enjoyed them and it has been worth it. Recently though I decided that I would go back to school which means I can't do this anymore. I think I'm one of the luckiest women in the world because of this opportunity. How many people can say that they booked Barry for their final event? I wanted to thank a few very important people. My father, who supported me and helped me get through the semester I took off. My boyfriend, who has helped me many a time make sure that an event goes off without a hitch. Once we even had to use the Huntzberger helicopter to fly to New York just to pick up linens. My friends, who help me, enjoy these events. My grandparents, who actually offered me this job and taught me everything I know about being assertive when it comes to an event, I know you are all probably dying to hear the rest of Barry's set so I only have two more people. My mother, because she's the reason I've been able to make events that are so different come to life. Finally to my assistant, Lorraine, you've been my second in command for all this time which is why I'm leaving you in charge. There is no one better equipped to take my place than you. So that's it. Thank you for this opportunity. Thank you for buying a seat, all of your money is going to help Autism. Thank you for everything. Now it's back to Barry." Rory couldn't believe she was tearing up as she made her way back to her seat. She couldn't believe she was feeling so emotional about this. She smiled when she sat down when Logan kissed her on the forehead and wiped away her tears.

Logan leaned in and whispered quietly in her ear. "You did good Ace. You did really good."

"Thanks Logan."

"They were so lucky to have, but I must admit I' more excited that now I get you all to myself."

This chapter was a little weird for me. Last chapter didn't receive many reviews so I don't know. Maybe it took me too long and people are no longer reviewing. I think I have one more chapter of this in me and then it's over. It's done. So please review. I want to know if people think there should be one more chapter or not. I hope you liked it. Oh and that song is originally called Hey there Delilah by the Plain White T's and it's really great so maybe you should give it a listen. Thanks!


	23. And Then It Was Over

A wry smile graced his handsome features when he walked into the bedroom that they shared and found her sitting there on the bed with a highlighter in one hand and a seating chart in the other. She was really going overboard with the wedding she was planning. "You know if you decide to quit Journalism you totally could go into wedding planning." He joked before kissing her softly on the forehead.

Rory looked up from her seating chart and crinkled her nose at him. "Are you still trying to grow scruffy facial hair?"

Logan shrugged and then nodded sheepishly. He thought it made him appear less refined. "You hate?"

"I hate." She admitted. She looked back down at her seating chart and then shook her head. "Did you know that Finn and Anne Marie were inviting three hundred people to this wedding?"

"I take it you didn't. The original guess list was nearly twice as large." Logan removed his pants and then crawled in bed beside her. The way it felt when their skin touched sent chills up his skin.

Rory shook her head and groaned. She tossed the seating chart to the side. She was nearly done. She only had to place five more people. The problem was they were five people who could easily ruin the good vibes at a table. One wrong seating and next thing you know a brawl could break out at their wedding. "Remind me never to invite an Irishmen and a Brit to my wedding."

"Will do, does that mean we can invite one or the other, because I think every wedding needs an Irishmen."

"Does Finn come back from Australia tomorrow?" Rory asked. Everyone's favorite Aussie scholar had left them for down under nearly a week and a half ago and his presence was dearly missed. You didn't realize just how important his role was in the balance of their friendship until he was gone.

Logan smiled at the thought of Finn. "I think so. He wanted to be back a couple of days ago, but Anne Marie wanted him to meet some of her friends that had been on holiday when he first got there. I don't know it was this whole complicated thing. He promised to bring you back some tabs about her."

"I hear they call them The Gentleman and The Tramp." Rory had googled Anne Marie and Finn a couple of times. She hadn't realized just how big they were in Australia. What shocked her most though had to be the fact that they were so famous for doing absolutely nothing. They were famous for being the children of famous people. "I can't believe it's already May. It seems like just yesterday we were on that yacht and I was saying goodbye to my old new life and hello to my new old life."

Logan was nervous about how fast the school year was passing them by. Soon he would graduate and then he would do an internship in London. Was he ready to leave her? The answer was no. Did he have a choice as to whether or not to leave her? The answer was yet again no. He pulled himself out of his thoughts only to find her watching him with a curious grin on her face. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just you were so deep in thought."

Logan wasn't sure how to put into words how he was feeling. "I was just musing on how quickly the semester has passed us by."

"I can't believe your graduating soon. That reminds me we need to buy you a new suit for the big day." Rory scribbled that down on her To Do List. Just above it was the fact that she needed to finish the seating chart, order the linens, figure out the place settings, and then finally purchase him a new suit.

"It's just another day of the year Ace." Logan paused. "Plus I mean only a week after graduation I'm off to London."

The smile that had graced Rory's delicate features suddenly disappeared and was replaced by a look of realization. It was as if it had just hit her that he would be leaving soon. The sooner the wedding or graduation the sooner he had to rush off to a new life in a new city. "I can't believe I forgot about London."

"I doubt you forgot. You probably just blocked it out." Logan wished he was able to block it out.

"What does that mean for us?" A year ago Rory would never have asked a question like that so bluntly but now she knew it was better to just handle the situation instead of beating around the bush.

Logan smirked. "It means our love will then encompass an ocean."

"I'm serious Logan."

"So am I Ace. I love you. Living in London won't change that. I'm in this for the long haul." Logan whispered before kissing her softly.

Rory savored the moment. Finn and Anne Marie's wedding, was coming along just like their relationship was. Dave and Lane had managed to find their way back to each other and were even going to play the aforementioned wedding. Her mother and father were married and raising Gigi and living the life their parents had always planned for them. Stephanie and Colin were Stephanie and Colin; there was nothing else you could say about them that could describe them better. And finally there was Paris and Jamie who were as serious as they were that senior year when Paris fell in love with not only him, but his family, and his life. She pulled back and she looked at him for a moment and then she giggled.

"What?" Logan asked curiously.

Rory sighed. "It's just I never imagined life could be so complicated and messy and yet somehow so neat and perfect. I love you. I love this. And to make all of this even more special I just found the perfect spot for Jonah Fitzpatrick, the goalkeeper for Ireland's national soccer team."

She was in the middle of crunching the numbers for the linen order when her cell phone rang. She sighed when she saw that not only was it not a lovesick but high-strung Paris or a nervous Anne Marie, but instead her father. "Hi Dad."

"Hey Rory, how's life?" Christopher asked as he sat on the floor of his home coloring with Gigi. There was something about spending time with Gigi that always made him think about calling Rory.

Rory let out a satisfied sigh when she saw that if she ordered the type of linen she wanted from the company they used at the D.A.R. offices that she would actually be just under budget. "It's busy, but great. And you?"

"My life is basically the same, except you know I'm not planning a wedding, taking an extra course, or running the paper. Which brings me to the topic of school, is it good, bad, ugly, or are you just trying floating on through?" Christopher made a point to make sure that she was still happy at school. He wanted to keep on the up and up of her feelings.

Rory grinned. "Don't worry Dad, its going good. If I need your help again then I'll come to you. Believe me you saved the day those six months." Rory groaned when she heard someone beeping in on the other line, it was Anne Marie. "Father, it's the bride to be. I'll see you tomorrow at Friday night dinner."

"See you then Rory. Remember my job is to help you." Christopher offered and then hung up. He really felt that one of his number one jobs was helping Rory, as it always would be.

Okay so that was the end! I know. Maybe you're shocked. Maybe you had no idea that it was going to end that way. I don't know. I just thought this was a really good ending. Short, sweet, and simple. Plus it was filled with a bunch of father daughter bonding and our favorite couple being sweet together. Review please! Let me know what you thought. Maybe I have a sequel in me. Let me know what you think it should be about. I can't do one if I don't know what it is supposed to be about.


	24. Ideas for a Sequel

To everyone who is a fan of Helping Rory

To everyone who is a fan of Helping Rory. I'm considering doing a sequel. I recently received a review that reminded me that I was always wanted to do one for this story. I'm going to post a variety of story ideas and ya'll can vote on what you want to see happen. Thanks so much for reading.

Story Idea Number One: It's time for Gigi's debutante ball. The only problem is her boyfriend has broken up with her leaving her dateless. She's got three weeks to find someone who can help her "come out" in style. The people helping her pick her date would be Rory, Logan, Finn, Anne Marie, Colin, Stephanie, Jamie, Lane, Dave, and of course Paris. They would all have different amounts of involvement. Such as Rory, Logan, Colin, Stephanie, and Finn would probably have the most but the others would chime in here and there.

Story Idea Number Two: This story would be mostly about their kids, they'd be in their late teens. I'm not sure the situation yet. Haha. So I doubt many people vote for that idea. I must admit this one would probably take a little while to put together.

Story Idea Number Three: It'd probably be a one-shot and it would Finn and Anne Marie's wedding. It'd be sweet and simple. There'd be a lot of very funny moments and some cute ones too. I promise no more overly horrible Aussie speak. Haha. I'm sorry for that.

Story Idea Number Four: Five years later the friends have grown up and gone their separate ways, but are forced to come together for insert random reason. I'm thinking something along the lines of a wedding or maybe even a funeral. There'd be laughter, tears, arguments, and a lot of booze. Haha.

If you have an idea for the sequel just let me know. Thank you for checking this out. I'm sorry it's not actually a new chapter. Have a great day! - KRiSTiNEDAHLiNG


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